Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name
your kingdom come
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

What does this mean?

[Robert E. Smith translation, 1994] Truly, God gives daily bread to evil people, even without our prayer. But we pray in this request that God will help us realize this and receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What does "Daily Bread" mean?

[Robert E. Smith translation, 1994] Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as: Food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and other things like these.

Jesus shows us over and over: God’s will in the human scene is human well-being. God provides abundantly for everything, and it’s not just spiritual “goods”. Look again at the explanation. What Luther outlines is nothing other than the great Biblical notion of shalom. Think of anything truly good for humanity, or for the whole created order for that matter, and that is what is meant by shalom. Shalom is the justice in the social order and a sense of being at home in the Universe—the universe that is God’s universe, not cold, uncaring, driven by the immutable laws of physics (though it does work that way if we only approach life rationally)—but even more, glowing with the compassion of God for all that God has made, which is, very, very good. And for all that, we give thanksgiving. Our lives, a Eucharistic celebration.

Prayer

Creator, thanks for everything. Amen.

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