The Fathers call the gathering of the faithful at the Divine Liturgy a concourse (synodos) because all the faithful and the Lord journey on a course together towards the Jerusalem on high. This synaxis shows that the reason for existence of the Church is the unity of the faithful. ‘The Church came into being… so that we might be united. And this is demonstrated by the concourse. What paradise is there like our concourse? Let none of those who eat the holy Passover [of the Eucharist] pay any attention to Egypt [the vanity of this world], but father to heaven, to the Jerusalem which is above.’

“The Divine Liturgy – A Commentary in the Light of the Fathers” by Hieromonk Gregorios
Quotations from St. John Chrystostom