The "Path" to COMMUNION

Reflections" regarding THE PATH TO COMMUNION   Prayer  ~~  "Come Spirit of Love!  Come that we may be one, as the Father and You are One.  One united with You!     One united through our Baptism in FAITH and in LOVE!"

The Church, sacrament of communion

Today we live in a world that is very much d i v i d e d ~~  

but a world which is in search of unity!

When Pope John Paul II speaks about "communion" with one another, it is the Triune God  ~~  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit Who 

represents this COMMUNION.

He insists that "...we must proclaim that this communion is the magnificent plan of God the Father!  

It is Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Lord,  Who is the heart of this communion,

 and that the Holy Spirit works ceaselessly to create 'communion' and to restore it when it is broken."    

He further insists that,  "We must proclaim that the Church is the 'sign' and 'instrument' of this communion willed by God."

The Church is likened to a vine which is Jesus Christ and because the branches of the vine are we people who make up the Church of Christ, we share life with Christ.  He continues to tell us that it is through "communion" with Christ , Who is the Head of the Mystical Body of the entire Church, "...we enter into communion with all believers."

He strongly urges that this very special communion be made visible in concrete signs such as 

1) praying together FOR one another

2) developing a closer relationship AMONG the Episcopal Conferences and especially the Bishops who could not attend the conferences where important dialogue takes place

 3)  KEEPING brotherly-like TIES between entire dioceses (the district under a Bishop's jurisdiction which includes many, sometimes thousands of individual parishes) and the individual parishes and 

4) by  maintaining REAL communication among those who assist the pastors and Bishops in carrying out the mission of the Church.  

Throughout all of this important communication he insists upon 

1) the truth and the integrity of the FAITH 
MUST be preserved 

2) the Bishops MUST remain  united with each other

 3) the Bishops MUST remain united to the Successor of Peter  ~~  the Pope.

 

Because the Pope is the leader, he and his entire ministry MUST REMAIN STRONG in order to preserve the unity of the Church!   He states, "the primacy of Peter is fundamental for the Church's identity and vitality in America."   The Pope is the visible foundation of the Church  ~~   the rock upon which the Church WAS and CONTINUES to be built.   This labor of love was given to him by Jesus, Himself, when He said, "And I say to thee:  That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16, verse 18)  Therefore it is the Pope's responsibility to faithfully exercise the duties entrusted to him.

Pope John Paul II has not asked of his successors anything, of which he, himself, has not already been
an excellent example!