The Disciples Gathered in COMMUNION and COMMUNITY [1]

“I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church” is what we profess every Sunday in the Creed, but what is the Church? According to the Catechism: “In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers. These three meanings are inseparable. "The Church" is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ's Body.”[2]

In the Upper Room, we see the beginnings of the Church, gathered as one, united in prayer and worship, empowered by the Holy Spirit, witnessing and mission-driven, sent as a light into the world, as a sacrament. Furthermore, the Church was born in and from the Father’s heart, foreshowed from the world’s beginning, prepared for in the Old Testament, instituted by Christ, revealed by the Holy Spirit and perfected in glory.[3]

Indeed, as the universal sacrament of salvation, she is the sign and the instrument of the communion of God and humankind, in both her divine and human composition. With visible and invisible attributes, she continues to be that sacred assembly convoked, called together by God himself, as her spouse, in his loving and saving plan. Much has and can be said, about the mystery of the Church; I wish, however, to underscore two aspects: community and communion.

The experience of the Cenacle reminds all believers of the importance of the Church in our lives, in the life of every true and authentic believer and follower of Christ. Christ remains the focal point of the Church’s very identity and mission. She lives to point to him and to invite all to enter into his family. If she shines, it is only to draw attention to her spouse, Christ, and to show and manifest his light.[4] The Upper Room event and its spiritual significance highlights an ecclesial unity in community, a gathering place and a gathering spirit for Christ’s disciples, thus indicating the importance of fellowship. A community that gathers liturgically, especially on the weekly Easter (Sunday) to remember the Lord Jesus, is living in communion as a family. The community believes, prays, listens, worships, loves, announces, hopes, witnesses, serves, challenges, unites.

We are called to the Church. Communion with Christ, which is willed by the Father and accomplished by the Holy Spirit, is actualized-made present in the Church herself.[5] All persons are called, therefore, to enter into the Church, become part of her life, and to assume their part of the wider mission, according to the vocation given, charisms received [6] and their place in the hierarchical and charismatic community of faith. To be a “Child of God” is indubitably the greatest honour and title we can bear. Importantly, however, to be a “Child of the Church” comes in second. These two nomenclatures can never be separated as one depends upon the other. As St. Cyprian of Carthage teaches: “He who does not have the Church for a Mother, cannot have God for a Father.”[7] Christ wishes to save us and to sanctify us, but he wills to accomplish it through the Church — by means of the Church, his Mystical Body and Spouse. Furthermore, the Church is not so much a building as it is God’s faithful and faith-filled family, “members of his household,” wrote St. Paul to the Church in Ephesus, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”[8]

The challenge for us is this: to remain faithful to the Church who speaks on behalf of her Spouse and Lord; to love the Church as a loyal and devoted son/daughter; to respect the Church as the mouthpiece of the Lord’s teaching and depository and dispenser of his mysteries and truths; to defend the Church from her enemies, the mistaken and misguided detractors; to let ourselves be guided by the Church who as a mother and teacher nourishes and nurtures the divine life/God’s life in us. We need to remain faithful to preserving unity among the members and celebrate the different liturgies, customs, traditions, vocations, charisms, ministries and apostolates, which, each in their own way, manifests something of the mystery, beauty and holiness of Holy Mother Church. Let us take on this responsibility and with grateful hearts build ever more zealously that profound unity/communion which is already present and which is fruit of the Holy Spirit. The world will know to whom we belong, in whom we dwell, in whom “we live, and move and have our being”,[9] and we will bear powerful witness to the world, by the genuine love we bear one another.[10] By way of a profound unity among ourselves, this communion of one in heart and mind[11] will in turn build up the community of faith, and we will be pleasing to the Lord, fulfill our mission, accomplish his will, bring to completion his purpose and be a sign to the world that Jesus is Lord and in him we have life in abundance.[12] Jesus himself established his Church and did so for eternity, declaring that despite challenges or troubles facing his beloved Spouse, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”[13]

The believers in the Upper Room felt a dire need and desire for community, as they were excited about their newfound faith and mission which were made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, since they were also aware that Christ was no longer physically with them, they knew ever so well that they needed each other. Scripture relays: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”[14] Not only did they worship Christ in the Eucharist, they also cared for each other’s needs. Being united to Christ forged the first disciples into members of the same family, a sacred household, which gave them a special bond. In the end, we understand that community is truly essential for our spiritual and human growth, but also as to fulfill our calling. The Lord will not fail to develop that sense of community among us as we share our struggles and joys with others and draw near to him together in communion.

Anecdotal Illustration

The following story illustrates a creative and congenial manner of fostering a true sense of Christian communion and community.

“Northern Spain produced a beautiful way of expressing communion and friendship. With the countryside full of handmade caves, after each harvest, some farmers would sit in a room built above a cave and inventory their various foods. As time passed, the room became known as the “telling room” — a place of communion where friends and families would gather to share their stories, secrets, and dreams. If you needed the intimate company of safe friends, you would head for the telling room. Had they lived in northern Spain, the deep friendship shared by Jonathan and David might have led them to create a telling room… As believers in Jesus, may He help us build our own relational “telling rooms” — friendships that reflect Christlike love and care. Let’s take the time to linger with friends, open our hearts, and live in true communion with one another in Him.”[15]

Questions to Ponder

How much time do I devote to building community? Is membership to the Church crucial and important to my personal walk of faith? Am I excited to worship the Risen Christ on Sunday – with the community? Do I bring my gifts to the Church and share them generously? Have I been hurt by a Church member and have taken a distance form participating as a result? Do I consider myself a loyal son/daughter of the Church? What does that mean to me? Am I genuinely concerned with building a stronger sense of community in my parish? Am I a man/woman of communion or am I divisive by my words and actions?  How can I grow in my appreciation for the community that Christ has established? Do I honour and encourage the different vocations and charisms of those around me? Do I forgive the hurts of the community and try to live in communion despite it all?

[1] For a more fulsome explanation of the Church as communion and community, see the CCC, 748-870

[2] CCC, 752

[3] Cf. CCC, 758-769; Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, no. 1

[4] CCC, 748: The Church has no other light than Christ's; according to a favorite image of the Church Fathers, the Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun

[5] Cf. Lumen Gentium, no. 2-4

[6] Cf. 1 Corinthians 12; Lumen Gentium, 4:7; Gaudium et Spes, 32

[7] Treatise 1,6

[8] Ephesians 2: 19-22

[9] Acts 17:28

[10] Cf. John 13:35

[11] Acts 4:32

[12] Cf. John 10:10

[13] Matthew 16:18

[14] Acts 2:42

[15] Anecdote by Marvin Williams, https://odb.org/2023/03/26/the-telling-room