SPIRITUALITY

The Our Father reminds us of our duty to feed the poor

fot. wjarek / Shutterstock

Philip Kosloski - published on 06/13/24

When we pray "Give us this day our daily bread," we are also praying
that God would feed the poor, often through our hands.

T here are many spiritual lessons hidden within the Lord's Prayer, such as our
obligation to feed the poor.

Feeding the hungry is one of the hallmarks of Jesus' Gospel message, and one that makes
its way into the prayer that he taught his apostles to pray.
Do not sell
Give us our daily bread

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this hidden lesson when discussing the
petition, "Give us this day our daily bread":

But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another
profound meaning of this petition. The drama of hunger in the world calls
Christians who pray sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their
brethren, both in their personal behavior and in their solidarity with the
human family. This petition of the Lord's Prayer cannot be isolated from the
parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment.

— CCC 2831

The Catechism continues by highlighting the need to seek justice in the world, especially
for the poor:

As leaven in the dough, the newness of the kingdom should make the earth "rise" by
the Spirit of Christ. This must be shown by the establishment of justice in personal
and social, economic and international relations, without ever forgetting that there
are no just structures without people who want to be just.

— CCC 2832

Furthermore, the phrase "our bread" should be seen in its truly universal meaning:

"Our" bread is the "one" loaf for the "many." In the Beatitudes "poverty" is the
virtue of sharing: it calls us to communicate and share both material and spiritual
goods, not by coercion but out of love, so that the abundance of some may
remedy the needs of others.
 — CCC 2833

The next time you pray the Lord's Prayer, recall how it should motivate us to feed the
hungry and work for justice in the world.
Tags: BIBLE CCC PRAYER PRAYER

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