For my 20 years on this earth, I had always understood that the most important part of the Eucharist was the real presence of Jesus and the communion of the faithful through the consumption of His body and blood.

But sadly, I was mistaken. According to the Archdiocese of Boston, the most important part of the Eucharist is not the real presence of Jesus but the physical makeup of the communion wafer. It is critically important that the wafer be made from wheat. Apparently Jesus has trouble transforming anything but wheat into his body. (And for years I had been under the assumption that Jesus was all powerful)

This great enlightenment stems from an article written by the Associated Press on Wednesday. The AP reported that the parents of a 5-year-old girl from Boston petitioned the Church to make an exception for their daughter and allow her to receive a rice-based wafer for her First Communion rather than a wheat-based wafer. Their daughter, Jenny Richardson, suffers from celiac disease which renders her unable to east gluten — a protein found in wheat and many other grains. When Jenny eats wheat, she gets very sick and she is very susceptible to other diseases.

Luckily for Jenny and other people who suffer from celiac disease, rice does not contain gluten and can be eaten safely. Substituting a rice wafer for a wheat wafer would safely allow Jenny to receive holy communion just like all the other little children. But the Archdiocese wouldn't allow it.

"This is not a arbitrary sort of thing, and we're talking about a religious sacrament," John Walsh, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston told the Associated Press. "Bread is central to the Eucharist because of the imagery of Scripture, because of the prayers of the Christian community going back thousands of years."

For years, I always thought I was worshipping Jesus when I went to Mass. But thanks to the John Walsh, I now know that Jesus is just a sideshow in the Eucharist… what really matters is the wheat.

It's not just a figure of speech when we ask the Father to "give us this day our daily bread." We are not looking for comfort and protection from God, we want bread. Throw some yeast, water and grain together, bake it and we will be happy. Because that's what really matters: wheat.

The pope even took a stand on this. According to the AP, in 1994, the Vatican issued a statement saying "Special hosts (which do not contain gluten) are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist."

I am completely shocked that the Church would make such a big deal out of this. If Jesus came to Earth in East Asia, rice would probably be the preferred method of celebrating the Eucharist. If he appeared in pre-Columbian American, corn would be the way to remember Jesus' death and resurrection.

In fact, until I read in the AP story that the hosts were made out of wheat, I had no idea what I was eating every Sunday. If I had to guess what the main ingredient of communion wafers were, I probably would have said plaster.

But now I am enlightened. No longer will I think that Jesus is the most important part of mass. I will redirect my praise away from God and instead bow down in worship of wheat.

• All praise wheat