This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer After Communion for the Feast of the Holy Family. 

Bring those you refresh with this heavenly Sacrament, most merciful Father, to imitate constantly the example of the Holy Family, so that, after the trials of this world, we may share their company for ever. Through Christ our Lord.

If I would write a list of the benefits of Holy Communion, I must admit that “refresh” might be a word I wouldn’t think of right away. To me, the verb “refresh” may seem somewhat light. In the Latin form of the prayer, for refresh, we find the word “reficis,” which means to make anew, or to make again. I thought of it this way: to refresh means to fluff the pillows on the couch, to remake means to put a Lego set back together. Somedays I need a refresh, on other days, I definitely need a remake.

Without the heavenly Sacrament, we are unable to be refreshed, or made anew, enabling us to imitate the example of the Holy Family. 

Actually, in the Latin form of the prayer, the word for “example” is plural, which tells us that there are many ways to imitate the Holy Family. They show us how to live a life of trust in the Father’s plan. As models of deep trust, they also show us what it means to live in deep peace. The Holy Family is also an example living a life of holiness, they are models of love, and they teach us how to live in community and we are called to be just like them.

While we do want to imitate the Holy Family in this life so that after our trials, we can share their company in the next, we also need to remember that when God breathed His life into us, we are living eternity now. We are called to share in the trust, holiness, peace, love, and fraternity, today. There’s just one thing that stands in our way: the trials of this world.

When we think of trials, what first comes to mind may be the day-to-day things that come up, the disappointments, the times God didn’t answer prayer like we wanted Him to, or the sins of others that have wounded us, but the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 sheds a new light on trials.

In this parable, the sower sowed seeds along the path but birds came and ate the seed. Seeds sown on rocky ground sprang up but they died for lack of roots. Other seeds grew but were overcome by thorns, on the other hand, the seeds that fell on good soil found protection, nourishment and strength to grow and bear more fruit.

We live in a fallen world. Things are going to happen, but we were made for more. The important thing to remember is to not let the trials keep us from living in the company of the saints.

News flash: We are not perfect, we are going to fail, but God has not left us to fend for ourselves. In the Eucharist, He gives us His very life which refreshes or remakes us, and gives us the strength to once again imitate the examples of the life that He has for us even amongst the trials of this world.