11 March 2014 - bread of angels

11 March 2014 - bread of angels

Jesus tells us that his bread is to do the will of he who sent him (cf. Joh. 4:34).

We ask God, "Give us this day our daily bread."  We know that on our own we only do his will partially, haphazardly, incompletely, and, really, only when it serves us. And this way of acting leaves us hungry for a life of greater integrity.  We know too that God wants to feed us.  He wants to make the earth "fertile and fruitful", and to give "seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats". 

Jesus speaks to the Father in us, "Give us this day our daily bread."  He teaches us to desire the "bread of angels" (cf. Psa. 78:25) which only he can supply.  He teaches us that he, not the manna in the wilderness, is the true bread of angels, come down from heaven.  He teaches us to ask for this bread because only this bread empowers us to do the will of God.  When we receive this bread we understand more fully what it means to say that our bread is to do the will of our heavenly Father.  Jesus teaches us to pray for this bread and then reveals that he himself is the answer to our prayer. 

When Jesus says, "Give us this day our daily bread" he acknowledges that all that he has is from his Father in heaven.  By offering himself as the bread of life he offers all that he is back to the Father.  Jesus teaches us to depend on the Father in the same way.  He teaches us to receive our life from him.  "Give us this day our daily bread."  And when we receive life from him by his word it shall not return to him void.  We imagine this to be an external promise.  But even our hearts won't render it void.  We will be taken up in the great self-offering of Jesus.  The walls of our individuality and selfishness begin to fall like the walls of Jericho.

We should have great confidence in the Father.  He "knows what you need before you ask him."  This should help us to become simple before him and to let go of our pretenses.  We aren't trying to impress him with elaborate prayers.  We aren't trying to think of something clever or new to say.  But if we are truly simple we will also be truly sincere, depending on him for our deepest needs.  We pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" and trust that this is part of his will for us, the will we ask to be done on earth.  All that the entire human race needs, all that we might ever desire, is contained in that phrase, "Thy will be done."  This is the secret Mary knows when she says, "Be it done unto me according to thy word" (cf. Luk. 1:38). When we trust him enough to pray this from our hearts God breaks the bonds of unforgiveness which ensnare us and he sustains us in the face of temptation and evil.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.