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Communion wine now available in a packet

The blood of Christ is now being served in a “convenient” plastic-wrapped cup in a move that takes the phrase ‘mass production’ quite literally.

The photo shows a small amount of wine complete with a piece of wafer (Photo: Imgur)

A picture has emerged online showing a cup of prepackaged wine complete with a piece of wafer that an unknown worshiper recently received at Communion.

The photo has been viewed online over 2.5 million times.

The novelty has been met with scorn by some who view it as a degradation of the important Catholic rite, while others see it as a hygienic and thoroughly modern way of receiving Communion.

One commentator on Reddit, the viral news forum, said: “Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the body of Christ, and treat it with that respect. Putting it in a plastic container seems disrespectful. Similar to how you wouldn’t put your father’s ashes in a ziploc bag.”

But another pointed to its ability to be used in disaster areas where access to traditional Communion wine and bread is difficult:

“Can someone explain what’s wrong with this? I thought the prepackaged ones were for disaster relief, where getting tons of supplies to destroyed areas would be difficult.”

However, the presence of a potentially tricky foil lid on the package could work against its apparent convenience. A commentator warned: “My priest seems a little bit clumsy. It would end in tears, I assure you.”

18 responses to “Communion wine now available in a packet”

  1. Victoria says:

    What about how environmentally-unfriendly it is? There’s already too much plastic wrapping in our lives!

  2. Bart says:

    “disrespectful” ??
    I wonder..since the communion wine and cracker are eventually passed out of ones colon and bladder… isn’t THAT the ultimate of “disrespect”? Or does Jesus’ ” blood and body” just end up getting absorbed, like into ones appendix?
    Christians…LOL… ya just have to laugh.

  3. Daniel says:

    First thing that should be noted is that this isn’t a Catholic thing. Only primary source I could find for a similar image was from a Grace Methodist conference.

    Second thing, for non-Catholic Christians this is not a sign of disrespect because the wine/grape juice and wafer are, at best, symbols of Christ’s body and blood broken and given in commemoration. There is no importance to the mode of delivery. The Catholic and Orthodox teaching is very different in that we believe that the wafer and wine contains/is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ (in accordance with our conception of what is contained in Scripture). Only at Mass or other liturgical celebrations can the blessing be given and consumption of the sacred species be done without apostasy.

    The argument has been made that such a delivery could be used in extreme situations, such as Mass in a disaster zone, however the risk of spilling even a drop of wine or breaking the wafer trying to open the package is too great.

    Third is the environmental impact. Not dissimilar to what Victoria already stated we are trying to find more environmental methods of delivering the sacred hosts relying less on significant forms of non-renewable resource packaging such as plastics.

    As for Bart, Martin Luther was not the first one to make that argument 500 years ago. The debate’s ongoing as to when the sacred species, wafer and wine, are no longer the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ (dating all the way back to before the Nestorian conflict in 400 AD even with some clarifications with the Councils of Ephesus, Constance, and Trent) but generally it is at the point that the hosts have sufficiently dissolved in the mouth (technically speaking, we’re not even supposed to chew the wafer). All mockery aside, this is the short-form of the explanation.

    I know it’s been almost three years but this page seems to be the main link about the story.

  4. Ann M. Echols says:

    Please contact me, wanting to learn more about the communion packets. Cost, quantity, etc…

  5. Daisann Brock says:

    I want to order the prefilled wine and wafer packages and to know the cost

  6. Sybil says:

    Jesus gave the disciples unleavened bread and wine. Bread is to be chewed and swallowed. Come on now! The bread symbolizes the body the Wine symbolizes the blood. Why make a mountain out of a molehill. Men are always contrary to their own hurt should there be a conflict with this? I think not!! Simple eat unleavened bread and drink kosher wine.

  7. Robert says:

    Those who use this pre packed wine and bread may differ in your belief. For them the bread and the wine is just a symbol of christ blood and body, delivered different in wn what we ussually do in our churches so we need to respect that.
    It may be environmentally unfriendly but I see the benefit of this is, for times like this nCoV scare, this minimizes the risk of spreading the virus in our churches.

  8. Judy says:

    Are these real wine or just grape juice! Our church is looking for individual real wine and wafer packets. Thank you in advance. Nursej57@msn.com

  9. David Brockhoff says:

    Does anyone know where I can get these prepackaged communion sets with wine rather than grape juice? What Judy asked . . .

  10. Ann says:

    Wanting to no more about purchasing this product

  11. JM says:

    I’m interested to know where you got this pre-packaged bread and wine. Our church has been looking for something like this.

    1. faith Whaley says:

      World Communion Cups, In

  12. Nancy Travis says:

    How. Can these be ordered?

    1. Fannie Walls says:

      How to order and cost?

  13. Ken says:

    Reading the comments there is a lot of ignorance regarding the Lord supper. There are basically three different understandings of the Lord supper in Christendom today. Number one is the symbolic view shared by a number of people in these comments. There is no sacramental understanding of the supper here and so it doesn’t surprise me that there’s more concerned about the environment then the benefits of the actual body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Their view is simply known as the symbolic view. No sacramental value no extension of God’s grace. Two there is the catholic view known as trans substantiation. A simple explanation might be we start out with bread and wine and then after the consecration of the elements we have just body and blood of Christ. Which shows a proper understanding of the word trans substantiation a change of substance . Then there is the Lutheran view that simply takes the words of Christ and understands that we are receiving bread wine body and blood of Christ for the “forgiveness of sins“. This is known as the real presence. Depending on what view you believe will be subjective to your understanding of the sacredness of this practice.

  14. Gail says:

    When Jesus passed the bread and wine for us to remember Him they came in from outside didn’t wash hands and broke from the which was passed around and they all drank from the same cup something to think about

  15. DENNIS MORRISON says:

    WHERE CAN I BUY THIS PRODUCT

  16. Lazarus yashwantappa says:

    How to order this

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