Ask and You Shall Receive
The fourth petition of the “Our Father” asks of the Almighty: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3). The Roman Catechism begins its explanation of this petition by reinforcing its connection with the ones that preceded it: “The fourth and following Petitions, in which we particularly and expressly pray for the needs of soul and body, are subordinate to those which preceded. According to the order of the Lord’s Prayer we ask for what regards the body and the preservation of life after we have prayed for the things which pertain to God.”
It is only after adoring and thanking God and praying for His Kingdom to envelope the entire world that we turn to our own temporal needs. Whereas many are prone to pray only when they need or want something, true children of God will pray not only for our earthly needs but first and foremost for God’s glory. On the other hand, we should not neglect to ask God in prayer for our earthly needs, as if such trifling matters were a bother to Him.
The Catechism of St. Pius X echoes these sentiments by affirming: “In the Fourth Petition we beg of God all that is daily necessary for soul and body.” Concerning which needs of soul or body we should bring before the Lord in prayer, The Catechism of St. Pius X further counsels:
“For our soul we ask of God the sustenance of our spiritual life, that is, we pray the Lord to give us His grace of which we stand in continual need. The life of the soul is nourished principally by the food of the word of God and by the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. For the body we ask all that is necessary for the sustainment of our temporal life.”
In All Things, Detachment
The foundation of The Spiritual Exercises, which pious tradition teaches was given to St. Ignatius of Loyola by the Mother of God Herself, affirms that earthly goods are frequently used sinfully; therefore, we must practice detachment in relation to them, whether we are rich or poor. Everything we receive from God is a gift; and while we may pray for money, new possessions, a new job, or even good health, ultimately our prayer must always be, “Thy will be done” (Matt. 6:10):
“Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.” (“First Week – Principle and Foundation” of The Spiritual Exercises)
The Two Meanings of “Bread”
While we are reminded of our obligation to bring before God in prayer all of our needs, the Lord specifically taught us to pray for “bread.” Why bread? What does this word truly signify? In its characteristic insight, the Roman Catechism explains:
“It should then be known that, in the Sacred Scriptures, by the word bread, are signified many things, but especially two: first, whatever we use for food and for other corporal wants; secondly, whatever the divine bounty has bestowed on us for the life and salvation of the soul. In this Petition, then, according to the interpretation and authority of the holy Fathers, we ask those helps of which we stand in need in this life on earth.”
Similarly, St. Augustine teaches: “Here we ask for a sufficiency by specifying the most important part of it; that is, we use the word bread to stand for everything. Or else we are asking for the sacrament of the faithful, which is necessary in this world, not to gain temporal happiness but to gain the happiness that is everlasting.”
“Our” Bread
The Roman Catechism further teaches: “But why say give us, in the plural number, and not give me? Because it is the duty of Christian charity that each individual be not solicitous for himself alone, but that he be also active in the cause of his neighbor; and that, while he attends to his own interests, he forgets not the interests of others.”
Stated another way, The Catechism of St. Pius X succinctly explains: “We say: Give us this day our daily bread, rather than: Give us bread this day, to exclude all desire of what is another’s; and hence we beg the Lord to help us in acquiring just and lawful gains, so that we may procure our maintenance by our own toil and without theft or fraud.” Consequently, we are reminded of our obligation toward Christian charity every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer.
“Daily” Bread
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, which we as Catholics should do at least once a day, we ask for “daily” bread. Like “our,” the word “daily” has an important meaning. The word “daily” helps to reinforce our concern for the present day. We cannot change the past and we should not be overly anxious about the future. As the following daily meditation attributed to St. Augustine reminds us:
“Remember, Christian soul, that thou hast this day, and every day of thy life: God to glorify, Jesus to imitate, the Blessed Virgin and Saints to venerate, the Angels to invoke, a soul to save, a body to mortify, sins to expiate, virtues to acquire, hell to avoid, Heaven to gain, eternity to prepare for, time to profit by, neighbors to edify, the world to despise, devils to combat, passions to subdue, death perhaps to suffer, and Judgment to undergo.”
We need not be concerned about tomorrow as today’s problems and opportunities are sufficient for themselves (cf. Matt. 6:34). And in its characteristically succinct manner, The Catechism of St. Pius X concurs: “The word daily signifies that we should not be too solicitous regarding the future, but that we should simply ask what we need at present.”
The Bread of Life
But chief among all the spiritual food given to us by God is certainly the Holy Eucharist – the true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Incarnate Word. As the Roman Catechism emphasizes:
“The Eucharist is called daily bread for two reasons. The first is that it is daily offered to God in the sacred mysteries of the Christian Church and is given to those who seek it piously and holily. The second is that it should be received daily, or, at least, that we should so live as to be worthy, as far as possible, to receive it daily. Let those who hold the contrary, and who say that we should not partake of this salutary banquet of the soul but at distant intervals, hear what St. Ambrose says: If it is daily bread, why do you receive it yearly?”
Conclusion
Rather than hurrying through the Lord’s prayer, pause and reflect on the sublime beauty and insights in each of the words of this prayer. It was Our Lord Himself Who by His own mouth taught us this prayer. May we never let a day pass without saying it piously and with gratitude for all His manifold blessings. For a more thorough explanation of this and other petitions, see the book “The Roman Catechism Explained for the Modern World.”