Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
1. In the second sentence, we begin to petition God on behalf of ourselves, starting with Give us this day our daily bread. Before this, we've been focusing on God, His praise, His kingdom, and His will.
2. We ask God to “give us” our daily bread. This is a collective thing. We pray that all people will have what they need, and we stand in solidarity with the “us” of the world.
3. We ask for what we need today. We focus on the present moment rather than worrying about the future. We trust that God will renew His gift every single day.
4. Indeed, everything we receive is a gift from God. If God stopped thinking about us for even an instant, we would simply cease to exist. Everything we have and everything we are comes from Him.
5. What is this daily bread that we ask for? On one level, we are simply asking for everything we need to survive: food, clothing, shelter, etc.
6. On another level, we are asking for more than just the basics, for we need more than physical things. We human beings are body and spirit. We have spiritual needs, too, like faith, hope, and love. We need to learn, to grow, to make good choices, and to become the human beings God wills us to be. We ask for all of these things, too.
7. The word for “daily” in the phrase “daily bread” is unique in the Scriptures and probably in Greek as well. It is epiousios, and it means more than simply “daily.” If you break down the Greek, the word actually means something like “above substance” or “supersubstantial.” It's a strange little word, but its implications are powerful. Please read the following article for further details: http://www.catholic.org/news/hf/faith/story.php?id=50420. Mr. Greenwell offers an excellent explanation.
8. A special word like epiousios certainly suggests a very special type of bread, and we Catholics understand that when we ask God for our daily bread, we are ultimately asking for the Eucharist above all else. That is the best Bread we can ever receive, for the Eucharist is the Bread of Life, really and truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. When we receive this Bread, we receive God Himself.
Let us pray.
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
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