A mother revives her campaign to change the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

I thought I had posted this last night but it was posted as a draft...

A mother is stepping up her campaign to get the Roman Catholic Church to permit the use of nonwheat-based hosts in the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Liz Pelly-Waldman on Tuesday sent a second letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith at the Vatican, in which she asked the Church to "revisit the theological definition of bread."

I'm certain Cardinal Ratzinger is right on top of this!

Pelly-Waldman . . . began her quest to get the Church to permit the use of communion wafers made of nonwheat-based flour after she learned that the First Holy Communion of her 8-year-old daughter, Haley, was considered invalid by the Diocese of Trenton.

Well, not exactly - the Church teaches that matter of the Sacraments cannot be changed - the Diocese of Trenton, in communion with the universal Church, explained the doctrine to the Ms Pelly-Waldman...

Pelly-Waldman said she decided to write a second letter after she received no response to the first one written to Ratzinger several months ago.

Oops! It looks like Cardinal Ratzinger is NOT on top of this...

Pelly-Waldman in her latest letter addresses the question of whether transubstantiation -- the Catholic doctrine that says the moment the wafer is consecrated by a priest it turns into the body of Christ -- occurs in nonwheat-based hosts.

Hmmm...Either someone failed to properly explain transubstantiation or the woman wasn't listening. Of course, even a correctly educated grade school student would be able to answer this question. She could have asked a priest (not the one who attempted to consecrate a rice wafer) or her bishop rather than the good cardinal. Maybe, though, he will answer by sending her a copy of the Catechism?

Pelly-Waldman said she agrees with the position that the matter now is between her and the Vatican, rather than between her and her local church or the Trenton diocese.

The diocese explained it once and she didn't like the answer or the explanation...

"This is not something that should be decided by the diocese," she said.

The diocese passes on faithfully what it has received, the bishop faithfully hands on what he has received - this is called Sacred Tradition. This Sacred Tradition, with Sacred Scripture make up the Deposit of Faith, the interpretation of which has been entrusted to the Magisterium of the Church. The diocesan bishop, in communion with the Holy Father, explains the truth to her, but it falls on deaf ears....Why?

"I'm questioning 2,000 years of tradition," she said. "To think that in a matter of two months that I've even had this much of an effect is amazing. This is basically a David and Goliath here. I'm happy with how far we've come."

Someone needs to tell her that her complaint, (the problem of which has been addressed previously) will go nowhere. Remedial catechesis is needed: form, matter, intention, what sacraments arem why Christ instituted them, why the Church has been given the authority to teach and interpret, etc, etc...someone should engage in a spiritual work of mercy and go over all of this with her. It might save her some further embarassment.

She should also consider what is best for her daughter who suffers from the disease which prevents her from receiving our Lord under the species of bread. Keep both her and her daughter in your prayers - perhaps, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she will come to understand and accept the crosses that our Lord wishes to give us so tha we will bear them for Him and for our own sanctification.

Article.