The Catechism of the Council of Trent/Part 4: Give us this day our daily bread
"GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD."
THE fourth and following petitions, in which we particularly and expressively pray for the necessary succours of soul and body, have reference to those which preceded. According to the order of the Lord's Prayer, we ask for what regards the body and its preservation, after that which regards God. As man's creation and being terminate in God as his ultimate end, so, in like manner, the goods of this life have reference to those of the next; and it is with a view to the former, that we should desire and pray for the latter. This we should do, either be cause the divine order so requires, or because we have occasion for these aids to obtain those divine blessings, and, assisted by them, to attain our proposed end, the kingdom and glory of our Heavenly Father, and the reverential observance of those commands which we know to emanate from his holy will. In this petition, therefore, we should propose to ourselves nothing but God, and his glory.
In the discharge of his duty towards his people, the pastor, therefore, will endeavour to make them understand, that, in praying for temporal blessings, our minds and our desires are to be directed in conformity with the law of God, from which we are not to swerve in the least. By praying for the transient things of this world, we but too often transgress; for, as the Apostle says, " We know not what we should pray for as we ought." [1] These things, therefore, " we should pray for as we ought," lest, praying for any thing as we ought not, we receive from God for answer, " You know not what you desire." [2]
To ascertain what petition is good, and what the contrary, the purpose and intention of the petitioner is an infallible criterion. To pray for temporal blessings, under an impression that they constitute the sovereign good; to rest in them, as the ultimate end of our desires, and to seek for nothing else; this, unquestionably, is not to pray as we ought; for, as St. Augustine observes, " we ask not these temporal things as our good, but as necessaries." [3] The Apostle, also, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, teaches, that whatever regards the necessary purposes of life is to be referred to the glory of God: " Whether you eat or drink, or whatever else you do, do all to the glory of God." [4]
Importance In order that the faithful may see the importance of this petition, the pastor will advert to the necessity of external things, in order to support life; and this they will the more easily comprehend, by comparing the wants of our protoparent with those of his posterity. True it is, that, although in a state of spotless innocence, from which he himself, and, through his transgression, all Ins posterity fell, he had occasion to use food for the refection of the body; yet, between his wants, and those to which we are subject, there exists a wide diversity. He stood not in need of clothes to cover him, of a house to shelter him, of weapons to defend him, of medicine to restore health, nor of many other things which are necessary to us for the protection and preservation of our weak and frail bodies: to enjoy immortality, it had been sufficient for him to eat of the fruit which the tree of life spontaneously yielded; whilst he and all his posterity should have been exempt from the labour of cultivating the earth in the sweat of their brow. Placed in that habitation of pleasure in order to be occupied, he was not, in the midst of these delights, to lead a life of listless indolence; but to him no employment could be troublesome, no duty unpleasant. Occupied in the cultivation of those beautiful gardens, his care would have been always blessed with a profusion of fruits the most delicious, his labours never disappointed, his hopes never blasted.
His posterity, on the contrary, are not only deprived of the fruit of the tree of life, but also condemned to this dreadful sentence, " Cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shall thou eat thereof all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shall eat the herbs of the earth. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken; for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." [5] Our condition, therefore, is entirely different from what his and that of his posterity would have been, had he continued faithful to God. All things have been thrown into disorder, and have undergone a melancholy deterioration; and of the evils consequent to primeval transgression, it is not the least, that the heaviest cost, and labour, and toil, are frequently expended in vain; either because the crops are unproductive, or because the fruits of the earth are destroyed by noxious weeds, by heavy rains, by storms, hail, blight, or blast. Thus is the entire labour of the year quickly reduced to nothing, by the inclemency of the weather, or the sterilily of the soil; a calamity with which we are visited in punishment of our crimes, which provoke the wrath of God, and prevent him from blessing our labours; whilst, at the same time, the dreadful sentence first pronounced against guilty man is still recorded against us. [6]
In treating this subject, therefore, the pastor will exert himself to impress on the minds of the faithful, that if these misfortunes and miseries are incidental to man, the fault is entirely his own; that he must labour and toil to procure the necessaries of life, but that unless God bless his labours, all his hopes must prove illusory, all his exertions fruitless: " Neither he that planteth is any thing, nor he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." [7] " Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it." [8]
The pastor, therefore, will teach that those things which are necessary to human existence, or, at least, to its comforts, are almost innumerable; and this knowledge of our wants and weaknesses will stimulate the faithful to have recourse to their heavenly Father, humbly to solicit every blessing of soul and body, of heaven and of earth. They will imitate the example of the prodigal, who, when he began to experience want in a strange land, unable to obtain even the husks of swine, on which to satisfy the cravings of hunger, at length, returning to himself, saw that, for the evils that oppressed him, he could expect no remedy from anyone but from his father. [9] They will also have recourse to prayer with greater confidence, if they reflect on the goodness of God, whose ears are always open to the cries of his children. Whilst he exhorts us to ask for bread, he promises to bestow it abundantly on us, if we ask it as we ought: by exhorting, he enjoins it as a duty: by enjoining it as a duty, he pledges himself to give it; and by pledging himself to give it, he inspires us with the confident expectation of obtaining it.
When the minds of the faithful are thus animated and encouraged, the pastor will next evolve the objects of this petition; and, first, what is the nature of the bread for which it prays. In the sacred Scriptures the word "bread" has a variety of meanings, but particularly the two following: first, whatever is necessary for the sustenance of the body, and for our other corporeal wants; secondly, whatever the divine bounty has bestowed on us for the life and salvation of the soul. In this petition, then, according to the interpretation and authority of the holy Fathers, we ask those succours of which we stand in need in this life; and those, therefore, who say that such prayers are unlawful, deserve no attention. Besides the unanimous concurrence of the fathers, many examples in the Old and New Testaments refute the error. Jacob, pledging a vow to heaven, prayed thus: " If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, and I shall return prosperously to my father's house, the Lord shall be my God; and this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God; and of all things thou shalt give to me I will offer tithes to thee." [10] Solomon prayed fora competency in these words: " Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only the necessaries of life." [11] Nay, the Saviour himself commands us to pray for those things which, it will not be denied, are temporal blessings: "Pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath." [12] St. James, also, says, " Is any one of you sad? Let him pray. Is he cheerful in mind? Let him sing;" [13] and the Apostle thus addresses himself to the Romans; " I beseech you, therefore, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that you help me in your prayers for me to God, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers that are in Judea." [14] Since, then, God permits us to ask these temporal favours, and as this form of prayer was delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ, that it constitutes one of the seven petitions can no longer be matter of doubt.
We, also, ask our daily bread, that is to say, necessary sustenance, and, under the name of bread, whatever is necessary for food and raiment. In this sense Elizeus makes use of the word, when admonishing the king to give bread to the Assyrian soldiers, who received a considerable quantity of flesh meat; [15] and of Christ our Lord it is written, that " he entered into the house of a certain prince of the Pharisees on the Sabbath-day, to eat bread;" [16] that is to say, to eat and drink. To comprehend fully the meaning of the petition, it is also to be observed, that by the word bread, we are not to understand a profusion of exquisite meats, and of rich clothing, but what is in its quality simple, and in its object necessary, according to these words of the Apostle: " Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content;" [17] and of Solomon, as already quoted; " Give me only the necessaries of life." [18] Of this frugality in diet and clothing, we are admonished in the next word of the prayer: when we say " our," we pray for the means of satisfying the necessary wants of nature, not of upholding extravagance, or pampering voluptuousness.
We do not, however, by using the word "our," imply that of ourselves, and independently of God, we can acquire these means: " All expect of thee," says David, " that thou give them food in season: what thou givest to them they shall gather up: when thou openest thy hand, they shall all be filled with good." [19] And again, " The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord; and thou givest them meat in due season." [20] Why, then, do we call that for which we pray " our bread?" The reason is, because it is necessary for our sustenance, and is given to us by God, the universal Father, whose providence feeds all living creatures; and, also, because we are to obtain it, lawfully, not by fraud, or injustice, or theft. Whatever we obtain by fraudulent means is not our property; it is the property of another; and it very generally happens that the injustice is embittered by the acquisition, the enjoyment, or, at least, by the loss of such ill-gotten property; whilst, on the contrary, the fruits of honest industry are enjoyed in peace and happiness; " Thou shall eat the labours of thy hands," says the prophet; " blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee." [21] To those, then, who strive, by honest industry, to procure the means of subsistence, God promises the fruit of his blessing in these words: " The Lord will send forth a blessing on thy storehouses, and on all the works of thy hands and will bless thee." [22] The object of the petition, however, is not solely to beg of God to grant us to make use of the fruits of our labour and industry, and of his bounty: these we truly call ours; but we also pray that he may grant us enlightened judgment, to use with prudence and propriety what we have acquired by honesty and industry.
"DAILY"] This word also conveys an admonition to frugality, of which we spoke in the preceding paragraph. We do not pray for delicacy, or variety of meats: we pray for that alone which satisfies the necessary demands of nature; and the Christian should blush, who, loathing with fastidious palate ordinary meat and drink, looks for the rarest viands and the richest wines.
The word " daily" conveys a no less severe censure on those, against whom Isaiah holds out this awful menace: " Wo to you that join house to house, and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?" [23] The cupidity of such men is insatiable: " A covetous man," says Solomon, " shall not be satisfied with money." [24] " They that will become rich," says St. Paul, "fall into temptation, and the snare of the devil." [25]
We, also, call it " our daily bread," because we use it to regain Note, the waste of vital energy, which suffers a daily diminution from the natural heat of the human system.
Finally the word " daily" implies the necessity of unceasing Note, prayer, in order that we may not swerve from the practice of loving and serving God, and that we may be thoroughly convinced of this truth, that upon him we depend for life and salvation.
"GIVE US"] What ample matter for instruction is afforded by these two words: what motives they supply to worship and reverence the infinite power of God, in whose hands are all things; what reasons to detest the execrable pride of Satan, who said, " To me all things are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them;" [26] are reflections too obvious not to strike even the most superficial; for by the sovereign pleasure of God are all things dispensed, and preserved, and increased.
But it may be asked, what necessity have the rich to pray for their daily bread, possessing, as they do, abundance of every thing. They are under the necessity of praying thus, not that those things in which they abound may be given them, but that they lose not what they possess. Let the rich, therefore, learn hence the lesson taught by the Apostle, " not to be high-minded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God; who giveth us abundantly all things to enjoy." [27] As a reason for the necessity of this petition, St. Chrysostome says, that in it we not only pray for the means of subsistence, but, also, that " our daily bread" may be supplied by the hand of God, which imparts to it a salubrious and salutary influence, rendering it nutritive, and preserving the body in subjection to the soul. [28]
But why say " give us," in the plural number, not " give me," in the singular? Because it is a duty of Christian charity, that each individual be not only solicitous for himself, but, also, active in the cause of his neighbour; and that, whilst he attends to his own interests, he forget not the interests of others. Add to this, that the gifts which God bestows, he bestows, not with a view that he to whom they are given should possess them exclusively, or live luxuriously in their enjoyment; but that he may divide his superfluities with others. As St. Ambrose and St. Basil say, " It is the bread of the hungry that you withhold; it is the clothes of the naked that you lock up: it is the redemption, the freedom, the money of the wretched, that you hide under the earth." [29]
" THIS DAY"] These words remind us of the common infirmity of mortals. Although distrustful of being able, by his own exertions, to procure permanent subsistence, who does not feel confident of being able to procure necessary food for one day at least? Yet even this confidence God will not permit us to cherish: he commands us to ask him even for our daily bread. As, then, we all stand in need of daily bread, it follows as a necessary consequence that we should make daily use of the Lord's prayer.
We have thus far treated of that bread which we use to nourish and support the body, and which God, " who maketh his sun to rise on the good and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust," [30] bestows, in his admirable beneficence, indiscriminately on the good and the bad. It now remains to treat of that spiritual bread, which is, also, the object of this petition of the Lord's Prayer, and which comprehends every thing necessary for the safety and salvation of the soul. The soul, not less than the body, is nourished by a variety of food: the word of God, for instance, is the food of the soul; for Wisdom says, " Come, eat of my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you." [31] When God deprives men of this his word, a privation frequently involved by our crimes, he is said to visit the human race with famine; " I will send forth," says he, " a famine into the land, not a famine of bread, or a thirst of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord." [32] And as an incapability of taking food, or, having taken it, of retaining it, is a sure sign of approaching dissolution; so, it is a strong proof of the utter hopelessness of salvation, to reject the word of God, or, hearing it, to be unable to endure it, and to utter against God the blasphemous cry, " Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." [33] Such is the infatuation, such the blindness of those who, disregarding the authority of the Catholic Church, of her legitimate pastors and prelates, and revolting against the spiritual power with which they are invested, have joined the standard of heretics, who corrupt the word of God.
Christ our Lord is, also, the bread of the soul: " I am," says he, " the living bread that came down from heaven." [34] It is incredible with what exquisite pleasure and joy this bread fills devout souls, even when agitated by the rude shocks and afflictions of this life; and of this we have a strong illustration in the holy choir of the Apostles, of whom it is recorded, that " they went out from the presence of the council rejoicing." [35] The lives of the saints are replete with similar examples; and it is of these interior delights, which replenish the souls of the just, that God speaks when he says, " To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna." [36]
But Christ our Lord, really and substantially present in the ill. sacrament of the Eucharist, is pre-eminently this bread. Of this ineffable pledge of his love, which he bequeathed to us when about to return to his Father, he said, " He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him." [37] " Take ye and eat: THIS is MY BODY." [38] But, for those matters, which Note will serve to instruct the faithful on this subject, the pastor will revert to what we have already said, especially, on this sacrament. The Holy Eucharist is called " our bread," because it is the spiritual food of the faithful only, that is, of those who, uniting charity to faith, cleanse their souls from sin in the sacrament of penance, and, mindful that they are children of God, receive and adore this divine mystery with all the holiness and veneration to which they can excite themselves. [39] It is called " daily" for obvious reasons: it is offered daily to God in the holy sacrifice of the altar, and is given to those who desire to receive it with piety and holiness; and we should, also, receive it daily, or, at least, live in such a manner as to be worthy, as far as human infirmity will allow, to receive it daily. Let him who, on the contrary, is of opinion, that the soul should not partake of this saving banquet but at distant intervals, hear the words of St. Ambrose: " If it is daily bread, why partake of it but once a year?" [40]
In the exposition of this petition the faithful are to be emphatically exhorted, when they have honestly used their best consideration and industry to procure the means of subsistence, to confide the issue to God, and to submit their own wishes to the will of him, " who shall not suffer the just to waver for ever." [41] God will either give what they ask, or he will not: if he does, their wishes are realized; if not, it is an unequivocal proof that what they desire would tend to promote neither their interests nor their salvation; whereas, it is denied to the pious, of whose salvation God is more careful than even they themselves.
Finally, in the exposition of this petition, the pastor will exhort the rich to recollect, that they are to look upon their wealth as the gift of God, bestowed on them in order that they may divide it with the necessitous; and with this truth the words of the Apostle, in his Epistle to Timothy, will be found to accord, and will supply the pastor with abundant matter to elucidate this subject in a manner conducive to the eternal interests of his people. [42]
- ↑ Rom. viii. 26.
- ↑ Matt. xx. 22.
- ↑ Lib. 2. serm. Dom. in monte. c. 16. item. ep. 121. c. 6.
- ↑ 1 Cor. x. 31.
- ↑ Gen. iii. 17.
- ↑ Gen. iii. 17.
- ↑ 1 Cor. iii. 7.
- ↑ Ps. cxxvi. 1.
- ↑ Luke xv
- ↑ Gen. xxviii. 20.
- ↑ Prov. xxx. 8.
- ↑ Matt. xxiv. 20.
- ↑ James v. 13.
- ↑ Rom. xv. 30.
- ↑ 4 Kings vi. 22.
- ↑ Luke xiv. 1.
- ↑ 1 Tim. vi. 8.
- ↑ Prov. xxx. 8.
- ↑ Ps. ciii. 27.
- ↑ Ps. cxliv. 15.
- ↑ Ps. cxxvii. 2.
- ↑ Deut, xxviii. 8.
- ↑ Isa. v. 8.
- ↑ Eccl. v. 9.
- ↑ 1 Tim. vi. 9.
- ↑ Luke iv. 6.
- ↑ 1 Tim. vi. 17.
- ↑ Hom. 14. oper. imperf in Matt.
- ↑ S. S. Basil, hom. 6. variorum, Aug. et Ambr. serm. 81.
- ↑ Matt v. 45.
- ↑ Prov. ix. 5.
- ↑ Amos viii. 11.
- ↑ Job xxi. 14.
- ↑ John vi. 41.
- ↑ Acts v. 41
- ↑ Apoc. ii. 17.
- ↑ John vi. 57.
- ↑ Matt. xxvi. 26. 1 Cor. xi. 24.
- ↑ Vid. Tertul. lib, tie oral. Cypr. item de orat. Aug. et alios, locis citatis pag. 476.
- ↑ Lib. 5. Sa. c. 4. vide etiam de corisec. dist. 2.
- ↑ Ps. liv. 23.
- ↑ 1 Tim. vi. 17.