The individual person finds his peace and fulfilment, not in isolation, but in being an integral part of a community. At the same time, just as we are born into the community, the community becomes part and parcel of us. As an old African saying goes, “I am because we are”, if the human community is what it ought to be because it is borne and sustained by the spirit of communion. Hence, we see how essential and central the life of spiritual communion is to our personal and collective humanity. As Pope Francis says, “God’s name is Mercy”, we can see mercy can bring about healing communion to the world and those persons marginalized back to the fold of communion. Christians, as well as all men of goodwill, can indeed live and proclaim this good news.

At the conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and the Year of the Eucharist and the Family, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declared 2017 the “Year of Parishes, Communion of Communities” to focus on the parish as “a communion of communities”. This event is part of the Philippine Catholic Church’s preparation for 2021, the 500th anniversary of the Philippines as a Catholic country.

Isn’t universal brotherhood in communion the very essence of being “Church”? And, “the ultimate localization of the Church”, as the Christifidelis Laici puts it, is the “parish…in a certain way, the Church, herself which lives in the midst of the homes of its sons and daughters”. The Church “is not principally a structure, a territory, a building,” but rather “the family of God, like a fraternity animated by the spirit of unity”. It is “a family home, fraternal and welcoming”, “open to all and at the service of all”. Thus the Church is not a village nor the church buildings, but a life which overflows, a spiritual abode to be built up day by day.

For Pope Francis, the parish “is not an outdated institution and can still possess great flexibility, depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and the community.”

So how do we renew our parishes and restore their original characteristic as true Christian communities? We need to go back to Christ Himself. The foundation of the life in these communities is none other than the words of Jesus concretely lived out, i.e., his new commandment to love one another as He loved us. It is a life whose origin is heavenly for it is based on the life of the Trinity. Through his new commandment, Jesus has made it possible for Christians to live on earth as He himself lives in heaven.

St. Augustine explained how in the Trinity, the Lover, the Loved one and the Love between them, correspond to the persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although they are three divine persons, there is only one God. Their love for one another makes them One. Since they are three and one at the same time, the life of the Trinity is the model of, and gives life to, the true parish community. Thus, communities which live and apply these dynamics can be transformed into a communion of communities.

Christ’s prayer was, “That all may be one”. If we live the life of the Trinity, we can be one so that, as in the early times of the Church, those who do not believe may exclaim, “See how they love one another!” Then, the world will indeed believe and the “new evangelization” which Pope Francis is inviting us to carry out can be realized.

Once attending Mass in another parish, we heard the faithful offer this prayer: “In our parish community, may no one feel like a stranger, may all find welcome in our hearts and a home in our midst.” Here’s a noble goal for this Year of the Parish.