Our Daily Bread
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
"Give Us This Day" (2828-2829)
"Give us" shows a child's trust in the heavenly Father, who gives all "their food in due season" (Ps 104:27). This petition glorifies the Father by acknowledging his goodness.
These words also express a "Covenant." The word "us," shows that God is the Father of everyone.
Our Daily Bread (2830)
The Father who gives life also provides nourishment (all the goods and blessings which we need). On the Mount, Jesus demanded a filial trust in God's providence. He invited us to be free from nagging worry. "Since everything belongs to God, he who possesses God wants for nothing, if he himself is not found wanting before God" (St. Cyprian).
The World's Hungry (2831-2834)
The world's hungry provide a profound meaning to this petition. Hunger demands that praying Christians help the hungry. This petition cannot be isolated from Jesus' parables about Lazarus and the Last Judgment.
The whole earth should "rise" in the new leaven of the kingdom. Justice must be established in all relationships (economic, social, international). Just structures can come only from people who want to be just. "Our" bread is one loaf for the many. We must share "our bread" with the "many." Our abundance should remedy the needs of others.
"Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you" (St. Ignatius of Loyola). Even though we attained our food by work, it is still the gift of the Father whom we should thank by grace at meals.
Hunger for God's Word (2835)
"Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4). Christians must "proclaim the Good News to the poor" because there is a famine on the earth "for hearing the Word of the Lord" (Am 9:11). This petition concerns the Bread of Life, that is, God's Word and the Eucharist.
"This Day" (2836)
"This day" expresses not just mortal time, but the "today" of God. "If you receive the bread each day, each day is today for you. If Christ is yours today, he rises for you every day" (St. Ambrose).
The Daily Eucharist (2837)
Epiousius (Greek for "daily") appears nowhere else in the New Testament. "Daily" shows that good things are needed for day-to-day subsistence. "Daily" refers to the Body of Christ, the "Medicine of immortality." The heavenly meaning of "this day" is evident, the Day of the Lord, the feast anticipated in the Eucharist, the foretaste of the kingdom. Therefore, Eucharist should be celebrated every day. "The Eucharist is our daily bread. Its effect is that we may become what we receive. Our daily bread is also the reading you hear and the hymns you sing in church. All are necessities for our pilgrimage" (St. Augustine).
"The Father urges us children of heaven to ask for the bread of heaven. Christ himself is the bread who furnishes the faithful each day with food from heaven" (St. Peter Chrysologus).
Five riveting true stories by people who have experienced supernatural Warnings. order »
Join the movement! Pray 12 minutes a day to help God save America. order »
Find friends in the world's largest directory of Catholic young adult groups. Learn More »
Our supporters have distributed tens of millions of life-changing Catholic gifts since 1991, making us America's largest producer of high-quality, super-affordable tools for evangelization. Join our work today!
See All Our Catholic Materials
Meet Bud Macfarlane, Our Founder
