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Is 55:10-11; Rom 8:18-23; Mt  13:1-23

Anecdote: Dr. Norman Borlaug from the U.S., Dr. M. S. Swaminathan from India and Dr. Gurdev Khush from the Philippines proved to the world that seed has enormous power in it to save a nation from poverty. In the sixties, political scientists were predicting massive worldwide famine, acutely hitting countries like India with its 440 million people and leading millions to starve. There was, however, one scientist who saw things differently. His name was Dr. Norman Borlaug an agronomist from the U. S. who went to India with a seed called "Sonora 64," a wheat seed he developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre in Mexico.  Borlaug convinced the Indian agricultural scientists and the government authorities to give it a try. They planted some Sonora 64 wheat in the Punjab region of India. The results were spectacular and pretty soon they were using it throughout the subcontinent. Later, they introduced a new variety of rice, called IR8, developed by Dr. Gurdev Khush at the International Rice Research Institute at Manila, Philippines, and it brought even better results: It increased rice production five-fold without using chemical fertilizers and ten-fold by using chemical fertilizers. These new seeds enabled India and other Asian countries to avert famine. Today with over 1.3 billion people, India actually produces a food surplus and has become a major rice exporter, shipping nearly 4.5 million tons in 2006.  Here we see the power of a seed. Jesus tells us in today’s gospel about a far superior power of the word of God.  (Fr. Phil Bloom)

Introduction: We all realize the sad truth that only a few professing Christians are really living productive spiritual lives. Hence, today’s readings invite us to have a positive and optimistic view of the missionary efforts we make by bearing witness to Christ’s Gospel through our transparent Christian lives instead of turning cynical and becoming depressed.

 Scripture lessons: In the first reading, Isaiah, in the midst of a desert, can feel sure of the approach of spring for his people. Like Isaiah, all religious reformers confidently depend on the power of God’s word. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that suffering is part of creation (seeds must fall in the dirt and die in order to produce a fruitful life), and suffering and death produce redemption. He is expectantly waiting for his eternal reward, as he has sowed the word of God diligently and suffered for the Lord. Today’s Gospel assures us that, since God is in charge, He will bring the harvest, and it will be abundant. We need not despair if that harvest is not immediately visible. The Church in every century has seen people reject Christ, as illustrated in the parable of the sower. The parable tells us to do our part by preparing fertile soil in our hearts for the word of God to yield 60- and 100-fold. We are to imitate the farmer who loses no sleep over a few seeds eaten by birds or a few suffocated seedlings. 

The first reading explained(Isaiah 55:10-11) : The prophecies collected in Isaiah, chapters 40-55, are known as the Book of Consolation. Written for the exiles who would return from Babylon to Judah, the chapters are meant to comfort the dispirited people. There are promises of fertile land and restoration, water for the thirsty and secure defense against enemies as the result of Yahweh’s power, and mercy. What Isaiah means is that, like rain and snow which water the earth so that seeds may sprout and grow, God's word will accomplish its purpose to return the exiles to their homes in peace. Their return will be an everlasting memorial to the power of Yahweh's word.  Thus, today’s passage promises spiritual fertility.   It implies that God will make the peoples' religious lives fruitful, as He has done for their land. And it could bespeak a promise that God will make fruitful the work of the prophet, whose job it is to proclaim God's word. In this reading and in today’s Gospel, we are assured that God shares His abundance with us and that His plans will not be frustrated. 

The second Reading explained(Romans 8:18-23): In this passage, descriptions of our spiritual distress are combined with descriptions of nature’s distress. Following in Jesus’ footsteps, Paul reminds the community in Rome of their obligation to trust God’s word. But he does not use Isaiah’s farming imagery. Instead, Paul states that the sin of Adam has brought corruption both to humankind and to nature. Genesis 3:14-19  describes nature turning against the convicted Adam and Eve. For Paul, then, what God is doing for us in Christ, will redeem, not just mankind, but nature too.  Paul uses agricultural   imagery when he explains to his readers that they enjoy "the first fruits of the Spirit."   Paul advises us to be patient in awaiting redemption and the kingdom.

Exegetical notes on the gospel: A parable to boost morale: Jesus’ parable of the seed sown in various soil types was an attempt to boost the morale of his frustrated disciples. They were upset and discouraged because they realized that their master was facing opposition and hostility from the scribes, Pharisees and priests. The synagogues refused to admit him to preach. So Jesus had to go to beaches and hillsides. Some of the Pharisees were planning to trap him, and the common people were more interested in his ability to heal them than in his preaching.  Using the parable of the sower in today’s Gospel, Jesus assured his confused disciples that the “Good News” he preached would produce the intended effect in spite of opposition and controversy. Matthew may have included this parable in his Gospel, because his own Judeo-Christian community had experienced similar adverse reactions from their fellow-Jews, just as people today are frustrated in their attempt to live the Gospel in our consumerist, hedonist and agnostic society. 

A parable of God’s prodigality. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 13, repeats seven parables Jesus taught on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The parable of the sower is the first. Some Bible scholars think that Jesus told the parable in verses 3-9 and that the early Church may have added the allegorical interpretation in verses 18-23.   According to the traditional Palestinian farming practices, sowing often precedes plowing. We can assume that the sower intended to come back and plow the seeds into the soil. This parable is a story of God's prodigality, sowing seeds right and left, in abundant measure so that we constantly receive the word in our hearts from a merciful and generous sower. God is always scattering the seeds of His kingdom around us whether we deserve them or not, so that when the soil of our hearts is ready for the seed to germinate, the seed is already there. Even the tiniest seed of God’s love can produce in us a harvest beyond our imagining.  The Church is prodigal too, proclaiming the Gospel among primitive tribes in far-away jungles and among teenage gangs in urban ghettos, trusting in the power of the word of God which is described as a "sharp sword” (Is 49:2), “two-edged sword” (Heb 4: 12), and “fire and hammer” (Jer 23: 29). In other words, God’s Word is powerful – and, as we know, no power exists that can frustrate it.  

The yield depends on soil type: The good spiritual yield in life depends on how much a person willingly accepts and responds to the word of the Lord. In his parable of the sower, Jesus uses four different soil-types to represent four separate responses people can give to God's saving word. In fact, each one of us  may display all four different types of soil at various time  in our personal lives.

1) The soil along the path.  This soil is too hard to absorb the seed.   Soon the birds eat it up or passers-by trample it under foot.  Jesus explains that this soil is like the person who hears the word of God without letting it sink in. The seed/word is then replaced by worldly concerns. This type of soil represents people whose hearts and/or minds are closed because of laziness, prejudice, fear, pride or immoral living.

2) The soil on flat circular pieces of limestone. This soil-type represents emotional people who are always looking for novelties but never take a permanent interest in anything. Jesus explains that this kind of person is at first impressed by the message but quickly loses interest because of the effort needed to keep the word alive.  We have the example of a group of disciples who followed Jesus for a long time until the day he announced that he was the “bread of life." They found that teaching “too hard to accept” and just drifted away.

3) The soil filled with weeds: This soil represents people addicted to evil habits and evil tendencies and those whose hearts are filled with hatred, jealousy and greed. They are interested only in acquiring money by any means and in enjoying life in any way possible.  Jesus explains that these people are filled with worldly interests that undermine them.  The classic example is Judas who follows Jesus for a long time, but in the end, it seems, cannot let go of his worldly interests and so exchanges his Lord for earthly silver.

4) The good soil. This soil-type represents the people who hear the word of God and diligently keep it.   They have open hearts filled with holiness and humility.   They are eager to hear the word and ready to put it into practice.  They are attentive to the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, the Gospel is filled with people who have accepted the Lord's message and whose lives have been changed. Jesus’ words, in spite of obstacles and barriers, will produce the kingdom.  Although the seed may seem scattered at random, it will nevertheless produce amazing results: thirty-fold, sixty-fold – even a hundred-fold, an enormous yield with modern farming methods.

Life messages: A challenge for examination of conscience. The questions we need to ask ourselves are: Am I merely hearing God's word without understanding it? Does God's word meet with a hard heart in me?    Am I too anxious about money, security, provision for retirement or old age?   Is God's word taking root in me? Converting me? Transforming me? Enabling me to sacrifice? And what about the "fruits" that we are being invited to produce:    justice and mercy, hospitality for the immigrant and those with AIDS, the dispossessed, the unborn, the single mother?  By refusing to consider these, we may be missing the healing that the Word of God can bring into our lives.

2) What kind of soil are we?  How do we respond to the Word of God and to the various Acts of God in our lives? Do we allow the trials and tribulations of this world to overwhelm the tender seed growing within us?  Do we pull back when people harass us because we are believers?  Do we decide, because things are not working out the way we think they ought, that God doesn't care for us, or that He is powerless, weak and not to be heeded? Do we allow the cares of this world, our ambitions or our desires for success and happiness, to choke out the messages that God sends us through the various events of our daily lives and through the various people we encounter? How we respond to the Word of God is the key to how fruitful the Gospel is going to be in our lives. Unlike the situation in nature, we can, as it were, change the kind of soil that we are. God allows the seed to land on the hard paths, on the rocky ground and in the thickets of our lives in the hope that in those places it will find a place to mature and bear fruit, that those things which impede growth will be removed and that the soil may be just a little deeper than it at first appears to be in those rocky places. (Prepared by Fr. Anthony Kadavil).

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India’s Catholic Church has condemned the growing phenomena of terrorist attacks, lynching, killing and communal violence in the country and appealed to the people to “rise above religion, caste, language or region and to unite in promoting peace, harmony and ‎brotherhood.”  India’s Catholic bishops have described as “dastardly and cowardly” Monday’s attack by militants on Hindu pilgrims as they returned from Amarnath shrine in troubled Kashmir.  Seven, mostly women, were killed and 12 were wounded.  The pilgrim bus got caught up in a gun battle between the militants and police near the town of Anantnag.  

“This last attack is another sign of the flames of violence that seem to be unfortunately engulfing the country,” wrote Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI)‎ in a statement on Tuesday.   The apex body of the Catholic Church in the country expressed “its profound pain and sorrow at the spiraling violence in our country in recent times.”

Militants have been battling Indian rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir,  but have largely spared pilgrims, even during the most violent phases of their 28-year armed revolt.  India has been struggling to restore normalcy in the region, which both India and Pakistan claim as their own.

The July 10 attack was also condemned by Archbishop Felix Machado of Vasai Diocese. Speaking to Asianews, the Chairperson of the CBCI Office for Interreligious Dialogue said, “We strongly condemn this ruthless assassination,” wondering when this hatred will end.   Arch. Machado noted that "faithful of different religious traditions live in fear, with anxiety and insecurity, under the sword of fundamentalist ideology that does not accept religious pluralism.”  He regretted “an increase in the level of aggression and religious intolerance,” noting “there are special interests that do not want peace, but perpetrate violence against innocent people, for their own gain.”

In the same statement, Bishop Mascarenhas also condemned mob lynching in India to protect the cow, an animal considered holy by Hindus.  “We have been equally shocked and saddened by the lynching of human beings by mobs calling themselves, “gaurakhshaks” [cow protectors]”, the CBCI official said.  “Violence (in whatever name) be it the name of animals or of God or of religion is appalling and unacceptable.”  “We also condemn atrocities against dalits, tribals and other weaker sections. We condole the death of so many innocents and pray for God’s comfort to their families,” he said.

Bishop Mascarenhas also expressed concern over “communal violence that is being fanned in parts of West Bengal and other areas in the country.”  On behalf of the Indian bishops he appealed “to all concerned to restore peace and communal harmony in our society.”  “A nation cannot progress if it divides itself on the basis of caste, creed and religion,” he said.  “Violence brings death and destroys lives and families. We cannot risk the future of our children, our youth and our country for narrow political gains or for one-upmanship.

“Our beloved country has been known for its traditional peace and harmony and though there have been times when we have seen unimaginable violence, death and bloodshed, our society has bounced back to peace and brotherhood,” the CBCI Secretary General wrote.  “Lynchings, killings, terrorist attacks in recent times,” he said, “are frightening and worrying.”  “We appeal to all our brother and sister Indians to rise above religion, caste, language or region and to unite in promoting peace, harmony and brotherhood,” Bishop Mascarenhas wrote.   (Source: CBCI)

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(Vatican Radio) To celebrate the day the Church remembers Benedict of Nursia on July 11th we shine the spotlight on the figure of this great saint.

One whom Benedict XVI, now Pope emeritus, referred to at the beginning of his pontificate with these words: "..I wish to reiterate the steadfast resolve of the Holy See to continue serving the cause of peace.The very name Benedict which I chose on the day of my assignment to the Chair of Peter is a sign of my personal commitment to peace. In taking this name I wanted to evoke the Patron Saint of Europe who inspired civilisation of peace on the whole continent..."

In this archive interview Veronica Scarisbrick speaks to the retired Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation, Notker Wolf who highlights the Rule of Saint Benedict and the special charism pertaining to the Benedictines..

In this programme you can also hear a Vatican Radio archive recording of Pope Paul VI as he proclaims Benedict Patron Saint of Europe in October 1964.
 

Listen: 

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Catholic education experts in Indonesia are drafting what they say are new school guidelines to counter growing intolerance and radicalism in classrooms.   The guidelines are expected to be ready in the next few months and implemented in Catholic schools when the next academic year begins.

"What we are doing is in response to the current situation, where radicalism is so strong, including among teenagers," said Franciscan Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula, chairman of the National Council of Catholic Education.  "To stem this, we believe one solution is through education," he told UCANEWS on Monday. 

Father Mbula referred to a 2015 survey in 171 schools in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java that revealed 9.5 percent of students supported violence committed by radical groups, including the so-called Islamic State group.  An earlier survey by the Institute for Islamic and Peace Studies revealed that almost 50 percent of students supported radical ideas.   Father Mbula said that if this is ignored, "Indonesia will continue to be haunted by destruction." 

The priest said they would be consulting Islamic experts and thinkers from other religions on the initiative.  He also said the guidelines would be presented to the government, where they would hopefully be integrated into the mainstream curriculum.  

Fr. Mbula noted that "in the current curriculum there is no special attention given to efforts to cultivate awareness about diversity and building tolerance."  The guidelines, will not only incorporate promoting the values of Pancasila — Indonesia's philosophy to respect pluralism, it will refer to Pope Francis' document, “Educating Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools: Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love”. 

Education to Mutual respect

Prudentia, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia and part of the team drawing up the guidelines said educators also want introduce programs where students visit other religious places of worship, cultural sites and gatherings attended by adherents of other religions.  "What we want to achieve is a process of interaction within the social environment in which they live," she said.

Ahmad Nurcholish, a Muslim, and chairman of the education of diversity and peace division at the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace said students must have an inclusive and contextual understanding of religion.  "There are still many who only believe in the 'truth' of their religion dismissing other people's beliefs as wrong and misguided," he said.  "Such attitudes make it difficult to accept the existence of different people."  Radical groups are increasingly strong because they are more solid, while religious education in both formal and informal institutions only emphasize the aspect of ritual piety, not social piety, Nurcholish said.    (Source: UCAN)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter motu proprio on Tuesday, by which he created a new category, distinct from martyrdom, under which a Servant of God may be declared Blessed: oblatio vitae, or “the free offering (i.e. “oblation”) of [one’s] life”.

The Letter, Maiorem hac dilectionem, takes its title from the words of Our Lord as recorded in the Holy Gospel according to St. John, “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends, (Jn 15:13)”.

The Letter creates a new category - a facti species in technical language - called, oblatio vitae, and distinguishes it from the facti species of martyrdom, by five (5) criteria:

1. The free and voluntary offering of one’s life, and heroic acceptance propter caritatem of a certain and soon-to-come death;
2. A nexus – i.e. close relation – between the offering of one’s life and the premature death of the one who offers it;
3. The exercise, at least in ordinary degree, of the Christian virtues before the subject’s offering of his or her life and, afterward, perseverance in those virtues unto death;
4. The existence of fama sanctitatis – i.e. the reputation for holiness – on the part of the subject, and of signs [in confirmation thereof], at least after death;
5. The necessity, for beatification, of a miracle, one that occurred after the death of the Servant of God, and by said Servant’s intercession.

The oblatio vitae of the Servant of God, in order that it be valid and efficacious for beatification, must respond to all of the aforementioned criteria.

The positio prepared by the diocesan inquest into the Cause of the Servant of God must respond to the following question: An constet de heroica oblatione vitae usque ad mortem propter caritatem necnon de virtutibus christianis, saltem in gradu ordinario, in casu et ad effectum de quo agitur, which is, “Does [the case of the Servant of God] consist of [an] heroic offering of his/her life up to death for the sake of supernatural love of God (propter caritatem) and also of the Christian virtues, at least in the ordinary degree, on the occasion and to the effect for which [the subject’s offering of his/her life] was made?”

Below, please find the full text of the Apostolic Letter motu proprio, Maiorem hac dilectionem, in the original Latin…

*******************************     

LITTERAE APOSTOLICAE MOTU PROPRIO DATAE
DE OBLATIONE VITAE

«Maiorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam quis ponat pro amicis suis» (Io 15,13).

Singulari existimatione et honore digni sunt illi christifideles, qui Iesu Christi vestigia ac placita proxime sequentes, vitam suam pro aliis voluntarie ac libere praebuerunt et hoc in proposito usque ad mortem perseveraverunt.

Omnibus compertum habetur heroicam vitae oblationem, caritate monitam ac fultam, Christi veram, plenam ac praestantissimam imitationem exprimere, quapropter ea digna est illa admiratione, quae fidelium communitas reservare illis solet, qui voluntarie vitam immolaverunt sanguinis martyrio occumbentes vel heroico in gradu christianas virtutes exercuerunt.

Faventi consilio a Congregatione de Causis Sanctorum edito, quae Plenaria in Sessione diei 27 mensis Septembris anno 2016 diligenter perscrutata est an huiusmodi christifideles beatificationis sint digni, has quae sequuntur statuimus normas servandas:

ARTICULUS I

Vitae oblatio nova facti species est itineris ad beatificationem et canonizationem, quae a specie super martyrio et super heroicitatem virtutum differt.

ARTICULUS II

Vitae oblatio, ut sit apta atque efficax ad Servi Dei beatificationem haec requirit:

a)   libera ac voluntaria sui vitae oblatio et heroica propter caritatem certae ac tempore proximae mortis acceptio;

b)   nexus inter vitae oblationem et praematuram mortem;

c)   exercitium, saltem ordinario gradu, christianarum virtutum ante vitae oblationem et, deinceps, usque ad mortem;

d)   exsistentia famae sanctitatis et signorum saltem post mortem;

e)   necessitas miraculi, beatificationis intuitu, quod post Servi Dei mortem et per eiusdem intercessionem eveniat.

ARTICULUS III

Dioecesanae vel Eparchialis Inquisitionis celebratio una cum pertinenti Positione ad normam Apostolicae Constitutionis Divinus perfectionis Magister diei 25 mensis Ianuarii anno 1983 in Actis Apostolicae Sedis, volumine 75 (1983), 349-355 editae, et secundum Normas Servandas in inquisitionibus ab Episcopis faciendis in Causis Sanctorum diei 7 mensis Februarii eiusdem anni promulgatas in Actis Apostolicae Sedis, volumine 75 (1983), 396-403 editas, praeter sequentia, temperata est.

ARTICULUS IV

Positio super oblatione vitae ad dubium respondeat “An constet de heroica oblatione vitae usque ad mortem propter caritatem necnon de virtutibus christianis, saltem in gradu ordinario, in casu et ad effectum de quo agitur”.

ARTICULUS V

In articulis subscriptae Apostolicae Constitutionis haec sequentia innoventur:

        Ad art. 1:

«Episcopis dioecesanis vel Hierarchis ceterisque in iure aequiparatis, intra fines suae iurisdictionis, sive ex officio, sive ad instantiam singulorum fidelium vel legitimorum coetuum eorumque procuratorum, ius competit inquirendi circa vitam, virtutes, vitae oblationem vel martyrium ac famam sanctitatis vel vitae oblationis vel martyrii, asserta miracula, necnon, si casus ferat, antiquum cultum Servi Dei, cuius canonizatio petitur».

Ad art. 2,5:

«Inquisitio de assertis miraculis ab inquisitione de virtutibus vel de vitae oblatione vel de martyrio separatim fiat».

Ad art. 7,1:

«Una cum externis cooperatoribus causis sibi commissis studere atque Positiones super virtutibus vel super vitae oblatione vel super martyrio parare».

Ad art. 13,2:

«Si Congressus iudicaverit causam instructam fuisse ad legis normas, statuet cuinam ex Relatoribus committenda sit; Relator vero una cum cooperatore externo Positionem super virtutibus vel super vitae oblatione vel super martyrio conficiet iuxta regulas artis criticae in hagiographia servandas».

ARTICULUS VI

In articulis supradictarum Normarum servandarum in inquisitionibus ab Episcopis faciendis in Causis Sanctorum haec innoventur:

Ad art. 7:

«Causa potest esse recentior aut antiqua; recentior dicitur, si martyrium vel virtutes vel vitae oblatio Servi Dei per orales depositiones testium de visu probari possunt; antiqua vero, cum probationes de martyrio vel de virtutibus vel de vitae oblatione dumtaxat ex fontibus scriptis erui possunt».

Ad art. 10,1°:

«In causis tam recentioribus quam antiquis, biographiam alicuius historici momenti de Servo Dei, si extat, vel, ea deficiente, accuratam relationem chronologice digestam de vita et gestis ipsius Servi Dei, de eius virtutibus vel vitae oblatione vel martyrio, de sanctitatis et signorum fama, non omissis iis quae ipsi causae contraria vel minus favorabilia videntur».

Ad art. 10,3°:

        «In causis recentioribus tantum, elenchum personarum quae ad eruendam veritatem circa virtutes vel vitae oblationem vel martyrium Servi Dei, necnon circa sanctitatis vel signorum famam conferre possunt vel adversari».

Ad art. 15,a:

«Relatione accepta, Episcopus omnia usque ad illud tempus acquisita promotori iustitiae vel alii viro perito tradat, ut interrogatoria conficiat quae apta sint ad verum indagandum et inveniendum de Servi Dei vita, virtutibus vel vitae oblatione vel martyrio, fama sanctitatis vel vitae oblationis vel martyrii».

Ad art. 15,b:

«In causis antiquis vero interrogatoria dumtaxat famam sanctitatis vel vitae oblationis vel martyrii adhuc vigentem necnon, si casus ferat, cultum recentioribus temporibus Servo Dei praestitum respiciant».

Ad art. 19:

«Ad probandum martyrium vel virtutum exercitium vel vitae oblationem et signorum famam Servi Dei qui pertinuerit ad aliquod Institutum vitae consecratae, notabilis pars testium inductorum debent esse extranei, nisi, ob peculiarem Servi Dei vitam, id impossibile evadat».

Ad art. 32:

«Inquisitio super miraculis separatim instruenda est ab inquisitione super virtutibus vel vitae oblatione vel martyrio et fiat iuxta normas quae sequuntur».

Ad art. 36:

«De Servis Dei, quorum sanctitas vitae adhuc legitimo examini subiecta est, quaelibet sollemnia vel panegyricae orationes in ecclesiis prohibentur. Sed etiam extra ecclesiam abstinendum est ab iis actis quibus fideles induci possint ad falso putandum inquisitionem ab Episcopo factam de Servi Dei vita et virtutibus vel vitae oblatione vel martyrio certitudinem secum ferre futurae eiusdem Servi Dei canonizationis»

Haec omnia, quae his Apostolicis Litteris motu proprio statuimus, mandamus ut rite funditusque serventur, contrariis quibuscumque etiam speciali mentione dignis minime obstantibus et publici iuris fiant per editionem super actis diurnis scilicet “L’Osservatore Romano” et ab hoc ipso die vigere incipiant et deinceps in Actis Apostolicae Sedis referri mandamus.

Datum apud Sanctum Petrum, die XI mensis Iulii, anno Domini MMXVII, Pontificatus Nostri quinto.

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Vatican City, Jul 11, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The norms regarding gluten and Communion hosts that went viral this weekend are nothing new in the Catholic Church.

On Saturday morning, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued a circular letter to bishops reiterating existing norms regarding the matter of the Eucharist, including the norm that Communion hosts must contain some amount of gluten to be valid matter for consecration.

By Saturday night, the (misconstrued) news had spread like wildfire: “Catholic Church bans celiacs from Communion!” many media outlets declared. It was such a hot topic that Twitter declared it a “moment” in world news.

But these were existing norms - there was no change, no announcement of new norms, nor banning of celiacs from the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Gluten-free hosts have always been invalid matter for the sacrifice of the Mass, meaning that Catholics with celiac disease have already grappled with other options for Communion.

Usually, such “reminder” letters are issued when someone, generally a bishop, has raised a question or has been alerted of a possible abuse of the norm.

Still, the letter left lingering questions regarding people with celiac disease (or those with other serious allergies to wheat) and Communion. Here’s what the Church, and Catholics with celiac disease, have to say about going gluten free for Communion.

Why must a Communion host contain at least some gluten?

Wheat bread and wine of the grape are the matter of the sacrament of the Eucharist because Christ instituted the sacrament under these species. Moreover, Christ compared himself to a grain of wheat, and to the vine.

At some point along the line the question of gluten came arose, and whether the bread used for Holy Communion necessitated at least some gluten (and its accompanying protein gliadin) to be considered wheat bread that was valid matter for the sacrament.

A July 2003 circular letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noting documents from the 1980s and '90s, recalled that “Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.”

It added that “Low-gluten hosts (partially gluten-free) are valid matter, provided they contain a sufficient amount of gluten to obtain the confection of bread without the addition of foreign materials and without the use of procedures that would alter the nature of bread.”

And in 2004 the Congregation for Divine Worship wrote in its instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum that “The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament.”

That said, the Church recognizes that it mustn't exclude from receiving Communion Catholics with celiac disease, and has made accommodation for those who are unable to consume normal bread.

Options celiacs have for Communion: Advice from a priest with celiac disease

A layperson affected by celiac disease who is unable to receive even a low-gluten host may receive Communion under the species of wine only.

A priest in a similar situation, when taking part in a concelebration, may with permission of the Ordinary receive Communion under the species of wine only. But such a priest may not celebrate the Eucharist individually, nor may he preside at a concelebration.

Father Joseph Faulkner, a priest of the diocese of Lincoln, was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2008.

Already a priest, he had to receive special permission from his diocese to use low-gluten hosts in order to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Fr. Faulkner told CNA he was surprised that the letter regarding communion norms exploded so quickly on Twitter, but he saw it as a teachable moment.

The problem of gluten is especially pressing for priests, who must consume Communion under both species at a Mass which they celebrate individually.

For Father Faulkner, he has found that the best low-gluten hosts are made by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri. The sister’s website includes a page about proper storage and distribution of low-gluten hosts so as to avoid cross-contamination.

While the hosts are not low-gluten enough to be considered gluten free (which is understood to be less than 20 parts per million), they are low enough to be approved by the Celiac Support Association, which has some of the most stringent guidelines available on what celiacs can safely consume, Father said.

“I throw up if I eat bread, but I consume 8-9 large, low gluten hosts per week, and have done that for 9 years, and I don’t get sick from them,” he told CNA.

Father Faulkner said he recommended that any celiac wary of the low-gluten hosts obtain a few of them, unconsecrated, and try tiny particles to see if they are able to safely consume them.

For celiacs who are unable to receive these low-gluten hosts, Fr. Faulkner said “the safest and most certain thing a person could do would be to ask to receive (the Precious Blood) from a chalice other than the chalice that the priest uses.”

That’s because the chalice of wine that the priest uses contains the frumentum - the little bit of Host dropped in during the Angus Dei. To avoid any cross-contamination, a separate chalice is necessary.

“That’s the most certain way, and when you receive the Precious Blood, you receive Jesus’ body, blood, soul and divinity, so you don’t have to worry” about only receiving part of the sacrifice, he said.

For those who are able to receive the low gluten hosts, travelling with a sleeve of unconsecrated hosts can be a way to ensure that they can receive Communion in different parishes, Fr. Faulkner said.

“Just go up to the pastor and explain, ‘Hi, I’m a celiac, can I have one of these hosts consecrated on a separate paten?’” he said. “Because parishes want to be accommodating, but if they don’t have a celiac in their parish they’re probably not going to stock (low-gluten hosts) in their fridge.”

The lay Catholic experience: What it’s like finding gluten-free Communion

Michelle De Groot is a layperson with celiac disease in the Diocese of Arlington. She said that for a long time, she would approach priests in the sacristy before Mass to ask them to consecrate a separate chalice of wine, so that she could safely receive without cross-contamination.

“That was always kind of stressful because sometimes the priest would understand what I was talking about and sometimes not. And they didn't always have a second chalice handy,” De Groot told CNA.

“So sometimes I'd just receive anyway from the cup with (the frumentum) and sometimes I'd make a spiritual communion instead,” she said. A spiritual communion is a uniting of oneself to the Sacrifice of the Mass through prayer, and can be made whether one is able to receive Communion or not.

Then, De Groot found out about the low-gluten altar breads made by the Benedictine Sisters. After doing her research, she decided to try these hosts, since they are approved as celiac-safe.

“I've never had any symptoms,” she said. De Groot says she also travels with her own supply of low-gluten hosts and a pyx (a small, round container for hosts) that allow her to receive Communion at parishes that may otherwise be unprepared.

She said while her celiac diagnosis was an emotional one for her at first, it has allowed her to establish relationships with priests and Eucharistic ministers at her parish and other churches she frequents.

“At my home (parish), it's even not the end of the world if i'm running a few minutes late because they know me and my needs - whereas when I was first diagnosed, I had to get to church 15 minutes ahead to give time for the awkward explanations,” she said.

“If anything, celiac has been good for me in terms of my relationship to my parishes - I'm not an isolated stranger there, I'm known!”

Molly O’Connor is also a Catholic with celiac disease, who expressed similar frustrations with trying to make sure the Communion she received was both valid and safe. Having lived in six local Churches throughout the country, she said experiences varied widely from parish to parish.

“I typically just receive the cup at Communion, and I try both to sit in a part of the church where Communion is distributed by a priest so I may receive a blessing and near a cup that doesn't have part of the host in it. If that sounds complicated, it is!” she said.

Travelling can be difficult, she said, as it can be hard to know whom to approach about receiving Communion. Parishes also often don’t announce whether they have low-gluten hosts, or how low-gluten they are, and not all parishes are conscious about cross-contamination, she said.

The U.S. Bishops issued a letter in 2012, updated in April 2016, regarding low-gluten and gluten-free communion options, as well as guidelines to avoid cross-contamination that can be found here.

O’Connor said the best situations have been when priests consecrate a separate chalice for her, and when parishes announce specifics about low-gluten or gluten-free options.

“As the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith, I think making Communion accessible to celiac and gluten-sensitive Catholics, in a manner consistent with Vatican and the U.S. Bishop’s norms, is paramount,” she said.

“How diminished is our faith life if we are unable to share in the paschal mystery with our fellow Catholics?”

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Kolkata, India, Jul 11, 2017 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Missionaries of Charity have patented the white and blue sari designed by Saint Teresa of Calcutta, obtaining a legal copyright recognizing the pattern as the intellectual property of the order.

Although it was never officially announced, the copyright had been granted the same day as Mother Teresa's Sept. 4, 2016 canonization as the culmination of a three year legal process.

According to the Press Trust of India, intellectual property attorney Biswajit Sarkar said that “the blue-designed border on the sari worn by nuns of Missionaries of Charity was recognized as Intellectual Property for the organization on September four, 2016, the day the Mother was canonized.”

“The Missionaries of Charity does not believe in publicity and as such it was not publicized,” he said, while stressing that “we are witnessing unscrupulous and unfair usage of the design across the globe” and so are trying “to spread awareness among people about the trademark.”

The sari, which is the habit of the Missionaries of Charity sisters, was designed by Mother Teresa when she went to the streets in 1948 to serve the poor. It is white with three blue stripes, the outer stripe being larger than the inner two.

Mother Teresa's blue border pattern “is a distinctive symbolic identity of (the) Missionaries of Charity under the concept of color trade mark protection,” Sarkar said.

The sisters sent their application to the Trade Marks Registry of the Indian government in December 2013, and after a three-year “stringent test of legal proceedings” the copyright registration was granted to coincide with the same day as Mother Teresa's canonization, despite the fact that it was a Sunday.

According to Sarkar, the copyright of the pattern of the saris worn by the Missionaries of Charity is unique, and marks the first time a uniform has been protected under intellectual property rights.

In an explanation of the meaning of the saris on the Missionaries of Charity website, Sr. Gertrude, the second nun to join the Missionaries of Charity after their foundation and who is since deceased, reflected on the symbolism of the design and how it came about.

She wrote that when she joined Mother Teresa April 26, 1949, “it was then that for the very first time in my life I saw her in her white sari with three blue borders.”

“And what a shock it was for me – Mother Teresa, a Loreto nun, my Headmistress was now dressed like a poor Bengali woman in a simple white cotton sari with three blue borders!” she said.

The shops where the nuns bought their first habits sold the white sari with either red, green or blue borders, and “Mother selected the blue border, for we associate the color blue with Mother Mary. It stands for purity.”

“Also in those days women who swept the streets used to wear a similar kind of a sari,” she said. “So Mother adopted a religious dress that was both symbolic and practical – it not only helped to identify ourselves with the poor, but was also suitable to Calcutta's searing climate.”

The sisters initially paid about 2.50 rupees ($0.04) for their saris, but once the order began to grow, it became hard to get them in large numbers.

Because of this, when the sisters in 1958 started the Gandhiji Prem Niwas project for leprosy patients, they noticed that many were out of work, and so bought looms and began paying the lepers to weave the saris for the order.

Since leprosy can't survive outside of human flesh, there was no danger of the nuns getting infected. The patients continue to work under strict medical supervision, and are paid by the sisters, who provide them with food, clothing, and medical care.

Regarding the significance of the colors chosen for the sari, the white stands for truth and purity, while the three blue stripes on the border signify the vows that the nuns take: the first represents poverty, the second obedience, and the third, broader band, represents the vows of chastity and wholehearted service to the poorest of the poor.

The cross sewn onto the left shoulder of the habit is symbolic of the fact that for the Missionaries of Charity, Christ on the Cross is the key to the heart.

Novices who join the order wear plain white saris with no stripes. Only after four years of formation, when they are ready to take their vows, do they receive the sari with the blue stripes. Each sister has only three saris.

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