Our daily bread?

[HoldingGodsHand]

So what exactly is our daily bread? What does it mean? I probably know, but I don’t.

 

[Della]

It has both a literal and spiritual meaning, as does all of Scripture. We ask God to sustain our bodily needs, as well as our spiritual needs. Many apply it to our need for the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, as well, which is a perfectly fine interpretation.

From the Catechism:

The senses of Scripture
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.
116 The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83
117 The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86
   118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses:
   The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
   The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87

119 "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgment. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."88
But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.89

 

[Elizium23]

Actually, it’s much more interesting than that. The exact Greek word that is so often translated to “daily” is επιούσιος, a word with a remarkable provenance.

 

[eggsbenedictine]

So what exactly is our daily bread? What does it mean? I probably know, but I don’t.

Our super-substantial bread. Read Brant Pitres book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist. It will really put this in perspective for you beautifully. It is the new Passover, manna, and bread of the presence, to sum it all up.

 

[HoldingGodsHand]

Ok so now I feel even more stupid, but by the bread it just means the eucharist? I mean, I know the eucharist is “bread” but I thought the term “our daily bread” meant more than just the eucharist. I don’t know why I thought that though

 

[Della]

Ok so now I feel even more stupid, but by the bread it just means the eucharist? I mean, I know the eucharist is “bread” but I thought the term “our daily bread” meant more than just the eucharist. I don’t know why I thought that though

It does mean both physical as well as spiritual benefits from God. It’s fine to say it can refer to the Eucharist, but since Jesus didn’t specifically say this, and he was teaching about how to prayer in general terms, we cannot say that he only had the Eucharist in mind. After all, not everyone can receive the Eucharist daily, but we all need to eat ordinary food daily as well as breath. God sustains us from moment to moment and provides our needs, temporal and eternal. That is what Jesus means.

 

[gh4]

Food. The food we eat to sustain our physical bodies.

The Lord’s Prayer done a little differently from
a Mennonite hymnal.

Our Father in heaven we hallow Thy name
my Thy kingdom holy on earth be the same
oh give to us daily our portion of bread
it is from Thy bounty that all must be fed.

Forgive our transgression and teach us to know
that humble compassion that pardons each foe
keep us from temptation from evil and sin
and Thine be the glory forever amen.

 

[gh4]

Ok so now I feel even more stupid, but by the bread it just means the eucharist? I mean, I know the eucharist is “bread” but I thought the term “our daily bread” meant more than just the eucharist. I don’t know why I thought that though

Daily bread? How can it mean the eucharist? There is no church law to take the eucharist daily. In fact, I believe we only have to receive once a year, or maybe twice? So I have no clue how that could be daily bread.
Like I said, I’ve always felt that daily bread was sustenance that we need each day to stay alive.

 

[Elizium23]

Daily bread? How can it mean the eucharist? There is no church law to take the eucharist daily. In fact, I believe we only have to receive once a year, or maybe twice? So I have no clue how that could be daily bread.
Like I said, I’ve always felt that daily bread was sustenance that we need each day to stay alive.

You are thinking in English now and you need to go back to the original languages used in these documents. If “daily” were the only or foremost meaning intended in this prayer, then the inspired authors would have used different words:

The Greek term otherwise used throughout the New Testament for “daily” is kath hemeran (καθ’ ἡμέραν, “according to the day”).

But they used “επιούσιος” and to ignore the Eucharistic meaning of that word is to be blind to the whole of Jesus’ teachings.

Catholic Encyclopedia: The Lord’s Prayer
Catholic Encyclopedia:

The most conspicuous difficulty in the original text of the Our Father concerns the interpretation of the words artos epiousios which in accordance with the Vulgate in St. Luke we translate “our daily bread”, St. Jerome, by a strange inconsistency, changed the pre-existing word quotidianum into supersubstantialem in St. Matthew but left quotidianum in St. Luke. The opinion of modern scholars upon the point is sufficiently indicated by the fact that the Revised Version still prints “daily” in the text, but suggests in the margin “our bread for the coming day”, while the American Committee wished to add “our needful bread”.

 

[Della]

Daily bread? How can it mean the eucharist? There is no church law to take the eucharist daily. In fact, I believe we only have to receive once a year, or maybe twice? So I have no clue how that could be daily bread.
Like I said, I’ve always felt that daily bread was sustenance that we need each day to stay alive.

This is where we need to remember that Scripture is meant for our spiritual good, not just our bodily, mental or emotional good. While we as individuals don’t need to receive the Eucharist daily, and most of us don’t, still it is offered daily around the world. If one looks at the time zones, the Eucharist is being offered somewhere in the world throughout the day.

What a blessing God has given us in these riches! To be able to pray for, not only our physical needs, but those of our souls and spirits while offering himself in this simple manner to everyone who is able to receive him on behalf of us all. I may not be able to receive daily, but those who do are praying for me as I pray for them. It’s a win-win kind of thing.

 

[gh4]

I guess my question might be this…
Which came first, the Lords Prayer or the Last Supper?

 

[vlf7973]

I guess my question might be this…
Which came first, the Lords Prayer or the Last Supper?

The Lord’s Prayer comes from Jesus’s teaching (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4) which was chronologically before the Last Supper. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t refer to the Eucharist, as Jesus also spoke of the Eucharist prior to the Last Supper (John 6).

Also, it is possible that the current meaning (as we understand it after the Last Supper) is different from the original meaning (as the disciples understood it before the Last Supper).

 

[Della]

I guess my question might be this…
Which came first, the Lords Prayer or the Last Supper?

I would just add that God is not limited by time and space. He sees everything from an eternal perspective, not along a timeline, as we most often do. In order to understand spiritual truths, one must see as God sees and not as humans see. It makes everything fall into place.