Valerie Giggie | Special Guest to The Michigan Catholic

Going into the kitchen while the kids are making sandwiches at lunchtime makes me feel as though I’m entering a bio-containment area without haz-mat gear. And when they make toast? They may as well throw a gluten grenade into the breakfast nook.

Celiac disease has changed my life. I cannot eat wheat, barley, rye, triticale, or any derivative thereof. Last Thanksgiving, there was no traditional stuffing for my turkey, no green-bean casserole. The gravy wasn’t the same. Luckily, I prefer crustless pumpkin pie. At Christmas, I crunched almond crackers while the children scarfed down the sugar cookies, gingerbread, and baby Jesus’ birthday cake. (Angel food, of course!)

When a guy asks a girl on a date, it is usually for dinner or, at least, lunch. Celiac disease has changed my husband’s and my date nights. We can no longer go to our favorite local restaurant. Italian cuisine is definitely not gluten-free. And sharing a bowl of chips and salsa while sipping margaritas was always so “relax-you’re-on-a-date. Enjoy!” Now, it’s “Excuse me, waiter, are the chips fried in the same oil as anything with flour? They are? Oh, never mind.”

As Catholic Scripture scholar Brant Pitre explains, if you want to effectively separate someone from society, limit what they can eat. He was addressing Jewish dietary laws. God got Israel out of Egypt, but then He had to get the Egypt out of Israel. They were His chosen people. Israel was to be separate from other peoples. So God limited their diet.

Later, in Acts 10, God shows Peter all the foods the Gentiles eat and tells him to eat, as well. The Gentiles and Jews are no longer to be separated. In the New Covenant, we are united. We sit and eat together. In fact, our very worship is based on a meal. Jesus’ institution of the Holy Eucharist was obviously a meal. His appearance to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus culminated in a Eucharistic meal. We share the Body of Christ at a meal.

There is just something about eating together. Eating is something our physical bodies require. Sharing a meal changes it from a mere necessity to an enjoyable event. Many studies prove the benefits for children of sharing family dinner: better behavior, better grades, better attitude. Social gatherings, fundraisers, carnivals — all involve food. Even at church, how do you keep the congregation from rushing to the parking lot after Mass? Coffee and donuts in the parish hall!

Of course, this is why I suspect that celiac disease is an invention of the devil. Lucifer has tempted many laity, religious, and priests to sin and scandal, but the Church still stands. So, he must figure that separating us at our very core — the Source and Summit of our Faith — will break us.

Since my diagnosis, the hardest thing for me has been holy Communion. It is so difficult to be separated from the Body of Christ — the community — while partaking of the Body of Christ — the Eucharist.  Now, when I go to Communion, my feelings are distress (from being singled out) mixed with gratitude (for the people who make and distribute the low-gluten hosts). Sometimes, I offer my holy Communion for those who have voluntarily stopped receiving the Eucharist. I pray that they will recognize the Gift our Lord gives us. I pray that they will choose to come back to the Church and nourish their bodies and souls with His very Self. Likewise, I pray that everyone who is receiving the Eucharist — myself included — will truly appreciate the Gift.

“I do believe, Lord; help my unbelief.”  (Mark 9:24)

Thank you to all who make it possible for us celiacs to join in the Eucharistic meal.

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Valerie Giggie, a mother of nine from Clarkston, is a parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Lake Orion.