Around the time that Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony on April 21, 2025, life slipped into a kind of fast-forward. As tends to happen, our own personal histories—graduations, send-offs, ups and downs—become interwoven with the fabric of full days and focusing in on papal themes can be a fleeting goal.  

But through these first months, as we’ve caught snippets of his homilies, audiences, speeches, and interviews, it seems he mentions “communion” a lot! So with the aid of the Vatican website’s search engine, we set about investigating our hunch. Sure enough, Pope Leo has used the word “communion” 144 times in his first nine months. He’s used the word almost as much as “mission” (152) and “joy” (188), though not as much as “hope” (295) … an intriguing fact that we can explore on another day.  

Why drill down on just one word? As we’ve journeyed through the joys and challenges of family life, we’ve been constantly drawn to the communion among the three persons of God. As we sought to chart a working roadmap for families called “The Trinity House Way”—recasting our homes, our “domestic churches,” as places of ever-deepening communion in the Holy Trinity—we were drawn to “communion” as the anchor, the through line.

So what is Leo saying as he turns our focus—again and again—to “communion”? Since we’re not theologians and we’re not setting out to write a dissertation, let’s first set aside two uses of the term—1) “communion” when speaking of the Eucharist (although of course our communion with one another comes from communion!), and 2) the ecumenical use of the term when speaking of unity among churches.

Now we’re in a better position to hear what Leo is saying about the heart of a Trinity House, the third use of the term: “intimate fellowship or rapport,” according to Webster’s (but as we know, this is an endlessly rich concept that transcends this simple definition).  

30,000-Foot View

First, a 30,000-foot view. We invite you to take a few minutes to read, hear and savor these evocative phrases, deployed by Pope Leo XIV in these early months of his pontificate:

• “style of communion”

• “spirit of communion”

• “light of communion”

• “living communion in the Spirit”

• “joy of communion”

• “shining witness of communion”

• “the polyphony of communion”  

• “home and school of communion” (when speaking of the Church)

• “desire for communion”

• “[hearts] eager for communion”

• “spirituality of communion”

• “ecclesial missionary communion”

• “builders of communion”

Communion in the Trinity: The Foundation of the Christian Life   

Having reflected on these phrases, let’s look at how Pope Leo speaks of the Christian life through the lens of communion. Here it seems so basic and foundational that he speaks of “two fundamental aspects of the Church’s life: mission and communion.” He then adds that “mission and communion are possible if we place Christ at the center” (12/22/25 Address to the Curia).

In these moving passages, he reminds us that:

“[T]he Trinity is a model of God’s love for us. God: Father, Son and Spirit. Three persons in one God live united in the depth of love, in community, sharing that communion with all of us.” (6/14/25, Message to the Young People of Chicago)

“The mystery of union with Christ lies at the heart of mission. Before his Passion, Jesus prayed to the Father, ‘that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us’ (Jn 17:21). These words reveal Jesus’ deepest desire, as well as the identity of the Church as a community of his disciples. That is, a communion that flows from the Trinity, and continues to be sustained by the Trinity. A communion at the service of fraternity among all human beings and harmony with all creation.” (Message for World Mission Sunday)

“Being a Christian is not primarily about practices or ideas; it is a life in union with Christ, in which we share in his filial relationship with the Father in the Holy Spirit. It means abiding in Christ, like branches on the vine (cf. Jn 15:4), immersed in the life of the Trinity. This union gives rise to mutual communion among believers and is the source of all missionary fruitfulness. Indeed, just as Saint John Paul II taught, ‘communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission’ (Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 32).” (Messsage for World Mission Sunday)

Communion is both our source and end, our starting point and eternal destination … and our joy along the road to eternal life with Him. With this in mind, Pope Leo XIV invites us to “walk together in faith and communion” and “allow the light of communion to shine in the world.” Speaking recently to a gathering of youth—though it can apply to all of us—he says, “Jesus calls you to be witnesses of communion.”

Questions and a Blessing

Challenged by Leo XIV’s call to renew our daily Christian life of communion, we can’t help but want to beg the Lord for an increased “desire for communion,” for hearts more “eager for communion.”

As almost an “examination of conscience concerning communion,” the questions arising from Pope Leo’s teachings are many: Are our homes “schools of communion”? Is our daily family life “fostering communion”? Do our children see in our marriage and daily witness the “joy of communion”? As we face the inevitable struggles and temptations of daily life, do we recall “that communion is built primarily ‘on our knees,’ through prayer and constant commitment to conversion” (Homily, 5/25/25)?   

Just a few weeks ago, Pope Leo concluded his World Mission Day address with his blessing and what he described as a “simple prayer” intended “to foster spiritual communion.” As we seek to deepen communion in the daily life of our domestic churches, let us join him in this:

“Holy Father, make us one in Christ, rooted in his love that unites and renews. May all members of the Church be united in mission, docile to the Holy Spirit, courageous in bearing witness to the Gospel, proclaiming and daily embodying your faithful love for all creatures. Bless all missionary men and women, support them in their efforts, and watch over them in hope! Mary, Queen of Missions, accompany our work of evangelization in every corner of the earth: make us instruments of peace, and grant that the whole world may recognize in Christ the light that saves. Amen.”