The Church as the Sacrament of Communion

Church as the Sacrament of Communion

Why is the Church called the "Sacrament of Communion"?

Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
1 Corinthians 10:17

The Church is the Sacrament of Communion because of her unique and intimate relationship both within humanity and with God himself. The Church is fundamentally a community of men and women united in Christ's fullness of grace as Head of his Mystical Body. (Cf. CCC 1140)

The Church's communion, in Greek, koinonia, includes both an invisible dimension (intimate communion among the Persons of the Blessed Trinity and all humanity) and the visible dimension (communion in the teaching of the Apostles, the Sacraments, and in the hierarchical order).  This communion, then, implies a spiritual solidarity among the members of the Church inasmuch as they are members of one Body, united in Christ. The union of the Church with Christ is described in Scripture as that of a Bride with her Bridegroom.
(Cf. CCC 771-773)

This communion is above all a gift from God, a new relationship between the members of the Church and God that has been established in Christ is communicated through the Sacraments and also extends a new relationship of humans among themselves. It is through this communion that God seeks to gather all of humanity to him in order to draw them toward eternal salvation—the ultimate unity of the human race rooted in heavenly glory.
(Cf. CCC 775-776)

-The Didache Bible