The Word ‘to commune’ is not much used today. We can use it to mean the Christian celebration in which Holy Communion is given and taken, the bread of the Eucharist. But the word ‘to commune’ indicates a very close and intimate relationship, of contact and union, of person to person, of destiny with destiny. We use it when we want to say, for example, that we agree with the ideas and sentiments of other people: I commune with you. To commune or receive the communion with Jesus, with his person and with his life is entering into an atmosphere of communication and deeper encounter with Him in such a way that he abides in us and we abide in Him. And abiding is to maintain oneself, to continue, to follow, to persist, to last, to be perpetuated, to be, to remain, to be established, to dwell, to reside, to live…..lasting and continuous. It is, if you allow me, like entering into this familiar, intimate, personal dealing with Him to enjoy thus his friendship, his presence, his company, his relationship…. To receive communion is a very intimate way of participating in what I want and feel to share with other person and in what he wants and feels to share with me.
The symbol of communion invites us to allow us to be invited by the one who has prepared the meeting and table, to meet us, to gather us, to get us seated around the table with the presence of the one who has invited us, welcomed us into his house and is ready for a meeting with us. In this way, we can enter into this intimate and profound atmosphere of friendship of sharing, union with whom we express and strengthen our friendship. And after this communion nothing remains the same. That´s why before and after communion with Jesus we make that prayer and petition……., “stay with us”, which is as if saying, “abide in us, on our side, among us…..without You we can´t do anything…….with you everything is possible and easy, light, bearable and simple”.
How do you enrich your life with your first communion experience with Jesus?