“Give us each day our daily bread”
“The daily bread we ask for is especially the divine Eucharist and all of the graces that flow from it into our day.”[i]
Why do we say that the Eucharist is daily? There is always a Mass being offered. Due to the different time zones and the nature of the Universal Church, we may always spiritual unite our self at any time with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The prophet Malachi spoke of this prior to Incarnation. “From the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering.”[ii] There are many ways we can connect our self to this perpetual pure offering. We can of course assist at daily Mass if we are able, if we are not able to assist physically we can daily make an Act of Spiritual Communion. “My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart [pause]. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.”[iii]
How is this petition both spiritual and physical? Humans consist of both body and soul, both are dependent on God. When then ask of Our Father to take care of both. We ask for the physical “bread” or needs that we have, which are daily and we ask for the spiritual nourishment of our souls which Jesus gives us in His Body and Blood. In this petition we live out the beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit” for we know that the poverty of our soul can be satisfied by God alone.
What is the sense of the petition “Give us this day our daily bread”?[iv] Asking God with the filial trust of children for the daily nourishment which is necessary for us all we recognize how good God is, beyond all goodness. We ask also for the grace to know how to act so that justice and solidarity may allow the abundance of some to remedy the needs of others.
What is the specifically Christian sense of this petition?[v] Since “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), this petition equally applies to the hunger for the Word of God and for the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist as well as a hunger for the Holy Spirit. We ask this with complete confidence for this day – God’s “today” – and this is given to us above all in the Eucharist which anticipates the banquet of the Kingdom to come.
[i] Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962); The Pater Noster
[ii] Malachi 1:11
[iii] Oratory: Place of Prayer Companion Cards; Blessed John Paul II Card
[iv] Compendium – Catechism of the Catholic Church - 592
[v] Compendium – Catechism of the Catholic Church - 593