June 10, 2026

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

Recently, I listened to a priest’s homily on YouTube. He spoke of the Church, the People of God, as companions. He spoke of the Catholic people of a parish living and praying together like companions. So, he was telling us that we need each other in our efforts to become a holier people, to become saints. We need others for support, affirmation, encouragement. We need companions as the Lord’s Pilgrim Church.

I immediately thought of the hymn often used at Mass – you remember it – “Companions on the Journey.” Today let me remind you of this excellent hymn. The refrain of the hymn is this: “We are companions on the journey, breaking bread and sharing life; and in the love we bear is the hope we share for we believe in the love of our God, we believe in the love of our God.”

What unites us as followers of Jesus, as the disciples of the Lord? God’s love. God loves us and that love gives us hope. Jesus taught us often that God loves us first and God loves us even in our sins. Jesus promised that the Father and the Holy Spirit, with Jesus comes to make an abode with us to live with us in love. So, we are not afraid. Jesus gives us the hope and the confidence that we may live well as followers of the Lord Jesus. We are not afraid. The Lord is with us, and we can make our world a better place.

This hymn tells us that as companions on this heavenly journey, we will find the power to live well by the breaking of the bread. This is an image we recognize of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We, the companions on the journey, find the divine strength through our participation at the Holy Mass and through the reception of the Lord in Holy Communion. We are called in a magnificent way by the Holy Spirit and joined with all our companions – all those we pray with and join with in the Holy Eucharist – to find the way and to lead others to our God.

The Second verse of this hymn says this: “We have been gifted with each other, and we are called by the Word of the Lord to act with justice, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God, to walk humbly with our God.” One of God’s great gifts to us, his followers, are the many others who walk with us, supporting us in our efforts to keep our Church alive and strong – bringing God’s love and peace to all.

The hymn goes on to remind us that we are called by the Word of the Lord. We all have a definite vocation – a call by the Holy Spirit – to bring God’s love to all those we meet. This hymn calls us to act with justice, to love tenderly, to walk humbly with God. We are companions, supporting each other, working together in love.

The Holy Spirit brings us together for a purpose as we join together at Mass. We pray in gratitude for all we have received – individually and as Church – as companions on the journey. At the Last Supper, the apostles found a bond with Jesus; they realized that Jesus was their companion. Even now the Holy Spirit calls us to discover the closeness of Our Savior; and to remember well the closeness we must have with all our companions on the journey. As companions may we always pray for each other.