Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary
Time
(Sirach 48:1-14; Matthew 6:7-15)
Although the Sermon on the Mount appears as a long
discourse, it is a compendium of many of Jesus’ sayings. The evangelist, whom we call “Matthew,” put
the statements together to form the basic Christian teaching on morality. The Our
Father is found at the center of the Sermon. Its seven petitions are also neatly arranged
although this work was likely done by Jesus himself. At the center of the prayer Jesus tells his
listeners to petition, “Give us this day our daily bread…” It needs to be asked why this request sits in
the critical place.
It seems that in asking for “daily bread,” one merely requests
daily sustenance. Apparently the
petitioner is asking the Lord that she not starve. But this earthly request would undermine the exalted
level of the prayer. It does not sit
well with the petitions for the coming of the Kingdom, for example, or even
that one’s sins might be forgiven. Scholars
have found, however, that epiousion, the
original Greek word translated as “daily,” means future as well. What is
being petitioned, then, is the Eucharist, the foretaste of the heavenly
banquet.
Then why don’t we say, “Give us this day our Eucharistic bread”? Our question is perhaps best answered in a
utilitarian way. The words of the Our Father have become so familiar that they
cannot be changed without creating resistance.
Despite the fact that other of its words like hallowed and trespasses are
no longer in common use, they as well as “daily bread” are retained to
facilitate frequent repetition of the prayer.
Of course, we should not say the words mindlessly but try to contemplate
their meaning.
