The most renowned prayer in the world is the Our Father, also known as the Lord ’s Prayer. This prayer that issued from the lips and the most Sacred Heart of Jesus came as a response to the disciple’s request: “Lord, teach us how to pray.”(Lk.11:1)
We will offer three short ideas or points for your reflection with the hope that we will all appreciate, love, and pray the Our Father with greater, faith, trust, and love all the days of our lives until all of us reach our eternal destiny and home which is heaven.
We will take only one of the phrases, often called one of the petitions in the Our Father and elaborate upon it: “Give us this day our daily bread.”(Lk. 11:3/Mt 6:11)
This daily bread can have three actual meanings for us, basically responding to the needs of the whole person in his totality: our physical, mental and spiritual longings.
1. PHYSICAL BREAD. In this way humbly beg the Lord and Creator who is the giver of all good gifts to bless us with physical and mental health and well-being. Now one of the primary reasons why we beg for health is for the purpose of being able to work energetically and hard, so as to earn sufficient means on the economic level, so as to provide for the health and well-being of ourselves as well as the family members that depend on us. However, let us all do our part on the physical level to eat properly, get enough exercise and rest so that God can keep us physically and mentally healthy and alert so as to carry out our work obligations. May Good Saint Joseph the worker pray for us.
2. BREAD FOR THE MIND. After Jesus had fasted forty days and nights
in the desert He was hungry and the devil tempted Him: “If you
are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread. Jesus
responded: It is written: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes forth from the mouth of God.”(Mt 3:3-4). A very practical interpretation for us is that we may all have a greater and greater hunger for the Bread of the Word of God. The Bible, the Word of God, must be the nourishment for our minds. We
should read, meditate and love the Word of God. Following is a very simple method to meditate on the Word of God in three short steps: Read, think, and then apply to your daily life! Allow the words of the great Doctor of the Church, St. Jerome to challenge us: “Ignorance of Sacred Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” May we hunger for the Word of God—this Bread for the mind—more than the daily bread we eat to nourish our bodies!
3. BREAD FOR THE SOUL. The final interpretation for Give us this day our daily bread refers to the Bread that nourishes our soul. Our soul is more important than our body and mind; it is immortal and will live forever. Therefore, we should strive to nourish our soul with the best nourishment under heaven. This nourishment is the Bread of Life that we receive every time we attend Mass and receive Holy Communion. By far the greatest action we can carry out on earth is to receive Holy Communion worthily, with lively, faith, unwavering hope and burning love. Jesus promises us the greatest gift if we carry out this action of receiving Holy Communion with faith, hope and burning charity—Heaven! Read and pray over these words that issued forth from Jesus who is truly the Bread of life: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread I give is for the life of the world.” (Jn. 6: 51) Therefore, when we pray the Lord’s prayer, the Our Father, and say: Give us this day our daily bread then this can mean daily Mass and daily Holy Communion. Why not start this very day: make a proposal and a firm determination to attend daily Mass, receive Holy Communion every day and be filled with the fullness of God!
Father Ed Broom, OMV, is Associate Pastor of St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens, California. He is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and was ordained by Saint John Paul II on May 25, 1986. Fr. Ed teaches Catholic Ignatian Marian Spirituality through articles, podcasts, a radio show, retreats and spiritual direction.
