In Communion

Why did Jesus say two or three -- why not just one? It seems as though Jesus never intended for us to pray alone, and the practice of asking others to pray with us, even of invoking the followers of Christ who have fallen asleep (but are alive in Christ) to pray for us is a way for us to always pray with others even when we are physically alone.

Jesus revealed God as a communion of divine persons -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He invited his followers to be a part of that communion. He told them, "I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:18-20).

Entering into this communion with Jesus "where two or three are gathered in his name" is never a solitary act. It is especially difficult in a society that is as individualistic as our is for some of us to understand this. We like to think of our faith as a private affair, something between God and the individual, but this is an illusion...

Before the fall there was harmony; since the fall there has been separation and division -- dare we say it, individuality. Jesus has come to restore the kingdom, to bring unity. Our individuality dies in the waters of baptism. The followers of Christ make the words of St. Paul their own: "With Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ live in me" (Galatians 2:19, 20); adapted fro Douay-Rheims).

How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist
by Michael Dubruiel