“Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread”

The following is the sixth of twelve monthly reflections about the phrases of the “Lord’s Prayer” and what they tell us about family life.

            The summer after my first year of college, I traveled to Denver, Colorado to participate in a summer of service at a homeless shelter there called Samaritan House.  During my first several days, we were still determining what my responsibilities would be when the chaplain made an important suggestion to me.  “Go and eat lunch with the residents.  Just eat with them, and listen to their stories.”  It turned out to be the source of my most memorable moments during my time there, and it gave me new perspective on people’s struggles, longings, and fears.  More significant than the bread we ate together was the true longing for daily bread these people experienced each day as they sought a better life.

Sometimes, I would be so overwhelmed with the weight of people’s lives and stories that I would have to go to the chapel right after lunch to process what I had heard.  I had prayed the Lord’s Prayer my whole life, always requesting my “daily bread” but not often pausing to consider what that was or what I was taking for granted.  I had too seldom pondered that my parents still faithfully married to each other, my house intact and in good working order, my next meal never a question, my freedom to worship God, and a host of other graced realities were gifts from God and not something that everyone had.  I soon came to realize that calling this daily bread really was not enough; rather, it was more like a daily buffet of choice and bountiful blessings.

            Of course, it sometimes takes encountering someone who lacks what we have or losing something ourselves before we understand just how much of our daily bread was provided.  We also get distracted at times about what our essential daily bread is.  Instead of closeness to God, peace in our homes, or deep and meaningful relationships, we may focus on things like our houses not always being spotless or our promotions and raises do not coming as readily as we had hoped.  We sometimes fail to take in the songbirds in the morning light or the gentle touch of a loving hand, the unbridled laughter of a child at play or the constant prayers from a loved one during a tying time.  These, among many other things, are the ways in which God showers us with manna from heaven.

            All this now prompts me to take a bit more time as I ask the Lord for my daily bread in prayer, knowing that God already knows all that I will need that day.  For a young man serving the homeless for the first time, my daily bread became the stories the people shared with me over lunch.  Whatever we find ourselves seeking from God, it is always essential to remember that it is bread for the journey to sustain us on our way toward the eternal feast of heaven.