If there is one word that encompasses much of Catholic Christian theology and its two wings of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, it is koinonia. Although a seemingly bizarre, broad sounding word at first – and not nearly as common as the English words, Gospel, Confession, Liturgy, and Eucharist, when describing Catholic Mass or Sacraments – its meaning, first and foremost, represents a community of Christians who fellowship with each other for a greater purpose. In fact, the word itself means “fellowship, community, communion” (Brown 287).
Brown gives numerous contexts for koinonia, starting with its basic use throughout the New Testament, and particularly in Acts and the Gospel of Luke: In these two books, there is a strong emphasis on social welfare and sharing goods / wealth among the community of believers. This first becomes more apparent through Paul, who notices the Gentiles willing to share their wealth with Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. In short, it was a form of koinonia (287).
This — along with communal prayer, the apostles unifying and adapting their teaching to variety of audiences, and early Christians gathering to break bread (Brown 288, 289) — eventually helped the Church grow out of obscurity, while loosely beginning to resemble what would soon be called the “Catholic” Church.
Although all aspects of koinonia were essential for the apostles to grow the church and build a body of believers in accord with each other and with God, one flagship aspect of this, through a Catholic lens, is the breaking of bread – now more commonly known as communion or receiving the Eucharist (Brown 288).
Beginning with the Last Supper, as described in Luke 22:14-20, Jesus keeps the tradition of the Passover meal, which honors the Hebrew/Israelite exodus from Egypt. However, this particular breaking of the bread introduces a new covenant that Jesus alludes to as being fulfilled through his death and resurrection, and ultimately pointing to the kingdom of God (Senior 1479).
Jesus disciples then continued this tradition, though it did not yet supplant sacrifices carried out in the Temple or pushed by Jewish Christians (Brown 288). Namely, because the breaking of bread still had roots in the Passover meal, that meant also understanding its salvific effect – which also meant understanding the bridge connecting the exodus (and the covenant formed from that) to Jesus’ death and resurrection establishing a new covenant, one that should be celebrated regularly (Brown 289).
2000 years later, the Church continues to keep this tradition – one that not only has ancient roots, but also is in keeping with both Jewish and Christian Liturgical practices.
Works Cited
Brown, Raymond. An Introduction to the New Testament. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Senior, Donald, et al. The Catholic Study Bible. Oxford University Press, 2016.