Give Us Each Day Our Daily Bread
Introduction: May you continue to deepen your relationship with, and dependence on, the GOD Who provides all that is Good!
Being a disciple of the Lord Jesus demands that we are in an ever deepening relationship with Him and His Abba-Father and Their Holy Spirit. Being in relationship demands us to “know” Who GOD is and who we are in relationship with the Triune GOD. We must admit the “almightiness” of GOD and our need for GOD’s assistance. It also includes being able to acknowledge our sinfulness and our failing to be conscious of our relationship with GOD. Our relationship with GOD is one of appreciation and gratefulness. With humility, we can then present our needs and concerns to GOD, knowing that GOD will provide all we and others need to deepen our relationship with Almighty.
Our readings today speak of a couple of ways to relate to GOD – most obvious (from the First Reading and Gospel) is that of asking, even bargaining, with GOD for what we need, and secondarily (from the Second Reading) is that of reflecting on what GOD has done for us in and through Jesus. In the First Reading, Abraham is seen as bargaining with GOD in reference to GOD’s forsaking the punishment of the good people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Responsorial is a prayer expressing the fact that GOD hears the petition of those who call upon the LORD. In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds the Colossians that they have been united to the Lord Jesus through their baptism, for they have died (to sin) and risen to new life as they are linked to Jesus’ death and resurrection. In the Gospel, Luke has Jesus presenting the Lord’s Prayer to His disciples in response to their request to learn how to pray, and He goes on to say that they should lift up their needs to the GOD Who hears their prayers.
First Reading: Genesis 18:20-32: ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak.’
Commentary: This delightful story is reminiscent of a scene of bargaining in an oriental bazaar, a scene of deadly earnest, yet playful bargaining. Abraham goes on pushing his luck, using laughably inadequate logic, till he has gone well beyond the point of any sort of reason. His partner in this game continues to show good-humoured tolerance, and above all an unbelievable willingness to forgive. Some might find this process of bargaining to lack reverence for the almighty power of God, but it is an expression of Israel’s intimate affection for the LORD. This attitude is all expressed in the special Hebrew name for God, which is never pronounced. The LORD himself will later show Moses the meaning of this intimate name of Israel’s own God as ‘God of mercy and forgiveness’. This sacred personal name of the LORD is never pronounced, partly out of reverence (for the glory of the LORD is too awesome for that name to be on human lips), but partly also out of intimacy, just as we do not noise around in public the intimate terms of affection which are used only within our close family circle.
Responsorial Psalm:1 38:1-2a. 2b-3. 4-5. 7c-8:
On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.
The psalm has been chosen to reflect the fact that GOD hears the pleading of those who seek GOD’s help. As typical of the Hebrew concept of prayer, the petitioning is linked to praise and acknowledgment of the wonderful things GOD has done and GOD’s gracious attributes.
Second Reading: Colossians 2:12-14: ‘God made you alive together
with him,
having forgiven all trespasses.’
Commentary: In this powerful passage we see the strength of Paul’s image of our sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection. Our life is hidden with Christ in God, since we were baptised into Christ’s death and raised in his resurrection. We emerge with Christ from the tomb, sharing his life, co-heirs with him and calling God our Father. Paul sees the sin of Adam not as something which happened long, long ago, but as an analysis of our own sin, for ‘Adam’ means ‘man’ or ‘humanity’. This sin, every sin, is a sin of disobedience to God. Christ is, in Pauline thought, the Second Adam. By his obedience to his Father on the Cross he wiped away, dissolved or overrode the sin of disobedience of the first Adam, the sin of humanity. The sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is the complete expression of obedience to the Father, which restores our loving relationship to the Father. This is forcefully expressed by saying that Christ nailed to the Cross the record of our debt to the Law. Circumcision was of no avail; it was only by being baptised into Christ’s death and raised in his resurrection that we could be restored.
Gospel: Luke 11:1-13: ‘Ask, and it will be given to you.’
Commentary: Luke is the evangelist of prayer. Again and again he shows us Jesus praying. At all the important moments of his life he needs this intimacy with his Father. So he is praying at the baptism; before the choice of the disciples he prays through the night; at the Transfiguration he is praying. Now the prayer of Christians picks up his own prayer. Luke’s rendering of the prayer he taught the disciples is slightly shorter than the version in Matthew. It begins with the simple call ‘Father’, rather than ‘Our Father in heaven’, a noble and affectionate simplicity. ‘Thy will be done’ is omitted, for it is Matthew who often insists on doing the will of the Father. Instead of ‘give us this day our daily bread’ Luke gives the insistent ‘give us each day’, which stresses the continuity of our dependence on God. After this prayer follows a series of parables and images which underline the importance of persistence in prayer and continual prayer after the model of Jesus himself. Elsewhere Luke will give us other parables: the Unjust Judge, again teaching perseverance in prayer, and the Pharisee and the Tax-Collector, teaching the importance of humility in prayer.
Reflection: Do you pray with joy and confidence? The Jews were noted for their devotion to prayer. Formal prayer was prescribed for three set times a day. And the rabbis had a prayer for every occasion. It was also a custom for rabbis to teach their disciples a simple prayer they might use on a regular basis. Jesus' disciples ask him for such a prayer. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray he gave them the disciple's prayer, what we call the Our Father or Lord's Prayer.
God treats us as his own sons and daughters: What does Jesus' prayer tell us about God and about ourselves? First, it tells us that God is both Father in being the Creator and Author of all that he has made, the first origin of everything and transcendent authority, and he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only begotten Son who, reciprocally is Son only in relation to his Father (Matthew 11:27). All fatherhood and motherhood is derived from him (Ephesians 3:14-15). In the Lord Jesus Christ we are spiritually reborn and made new, and we become the adopted children of God (John 1:12-13; 3:3).
We can approach God confidently as a Father who loves us: Jesus teaches us to address God as "our Father" and to confidently ask him for the things we need to live as his sons and daughters. We can approach God our Father with confidence and boldness because Jesus Christ has opened the way to heaven for us through his atoning death and resurrection. When we ask God for help, he fortunately does not give us what we deserve. Instead, he responds with grace (his favor and blessing) and mercy (pardon and healing). He is kind and forgiving towards us and he expects us to treat our neighbor the same.
We can pray with expectant faith and trust in the Father's goodness: We can pray with expectant faith because our heavenly Father truly loves each one of us and and he treats us as his beloved sons and daughters. He delights to give us what is good. His love and grace transforms us and makes us like himself. Through his grace and power we can love and serve one another as Jesus taught - with mercy, pardon, and loving-kindness.
Do you treat others as they deserve, or do you treat them as the Lord Jesus would with grace and mercy? Jesus' prayer includes a petition that we must ask God to forgive us in proportion as we forgive those who have wronged us (Matthew 6:14-15). God's grace frees us from every form of anger, resentment, envy, and hatred. Are you ready to forgive others as the Lord Jesus forgives you?
Parable of the late-night guest: What can we expect from God, especially when we recognize that he doesn't owe us anything and that we don't deserve his grace and favor? Jesus used an illustration from the hospitality customs of his time to show how God is always ready to treat us with the best he has to offer. The rule of hospitality in biblical times required that every guest, whether stranger or friend, be warmly welcomed, refreshed (which often involved the washing of feet), and fed with the best food and drink available. It didn't matter what time of the day or night the guests might show up, it was your duty to stop what you were doing so you could give the guests the best care and shelter you could provide. If there wasn't adequate sleeping accommodation for both your guests and your family, the family slept outside under the stars. When guests showed up in a village, the whole community could be prevailed upon to provide whatever was needed.
Jesus' parable of the importunate and bothersome neighbor shows a worst case scenario of what might happen when an unexpected guest shows up in the middle of the night! The family awakens, unbolts the locked door to receive the guest, then washes the guest's feet, and the wife begins to prepare a meal. When the wife discovers that she has no bread to set before the guest, she prevails on her husband to go and get bread from a nearby family, who by now is also asleep with their door bolted shut. In a small village it would be easy for the wife to know who had baked bread that day. Bread was essential for a meal because it served as a utensil for dipping and eating from the common dishes. Asking for bread from one's neighbor was both a common occurrence and an expected favor. To refuse to give bread would bring shame because it was a sign of inhospitality.
God's generosity towards us: If a neighbor can be imposed upon and coerced into giving bread in the middle of the night, will not God, our heavenly Father and provider, also treat us with kind and generous care no matter how troubling or inconvenient the circumstances might appear? Jesus states emphatically, How much more will the heavenly Father give! St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) reminds us that "God, who does not sleep and who awakens us from sleep that we may ask, gives much more graciously." The Lord Jesus assures us that we can bring our needs to our heavenly Father who is always ready to give not only what we need, but more than we can ask. God gives the best he has. He freely pours out the blessing of his Holy Spirit upon us so that we may be filled with the abundance of his provision. Do you approach your heavenly Father with confidence in his mercy and kindness towards you?
Father in heaven, you have given me a mind to know you, a will to serve you, and a heart to love you. Give me today the grace and strength to embrace your holy will and fill my heart with your love that all my intentions and actions may be pleasing to you. Help me to be kind and forgiving towards my neighbor as you have been towards me.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The privilege and responsibility of calling God Father, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)
"For the Savior said, 'When you pray, say, 'Our Father.' And another of the holy Evangelists adds, 'who art in heaven' (Matthew 6:9)... He gives his own glory to us. He raises slaves to the dignity of freedom. He crowns the human condition with such honor as surpasses the power of nature. He brings to pass what was spoken of old by the voice of the psalmist: 'I said, you are gods, and all of you children of the Most High' (Psalm 82:6). He rescues us from the measure of slavery, giving us by his grace what we did not possess by nature, and permits us to call God 'Father,' as being admitted to the rank of sons. We received this, together with all our other privileges, from him. One of these privileges is the dignity of freedom, a gift peculiarly befitting those who have been called to be sons. He commands us, therefore, to take boldness and say in our prayers, 'Our Father.'"(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 71)
god came down
“I must go down and see...” —Genesis 18:21. God said that He would come down from heaven to earth to find out if there was sin on the earth. He came down to Sodom and Gomorrah and He did find sin — lots of it. These two sinful cities were destroyed (Gn 19:24ff). God heard the “outcry against” sin (Gn 18:20), and He answered with justice.
Then God came down again in response to many outcries. This time He came down in mercy as a helpless Infant. He came down from heaven to earth, and He didn’t even crush a bruised reed (Mt 12:20). The Son of God came not as a ruler who turns sinful nations into fiery ruins, but as a meek Infant.
Jesus taught us to seek God as a loving Father when we cry out. In the New Covenant, Jesus teaches us to pray, seek, ask, and knock for conversions and mercy. Jesus taught us that mercy is what God desires (Mt 9:13), and His “mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas 2:13). God our Father knows what we need more than the most loving earthly father (Mt 6:32).
If the teaching of Jesus to trust our heavenly Father doesn’t impel us to depend totally upon God, then perhaps His example will be the impetus we need. Jesus came to this earth as a helpless infant, totally dependent upon His earthly parents, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. May we likewise be like little children, totally dependent upon our loving Father. Jesus assures us: “Unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of God” (Mt 18:3).
Prayer: “Father…” (Lk 11:2). “Even when you were dead in sin and your flesh was uncircumcised, God gave you new life in company with Christ. He pardoned all our sins.” —Col 2:13. Risen Jesus, You are the merciful Lamb of God and the powerful Lion of Judah. All glory and honor is Yours. Alleluia!
Personal action for today: What is my concept of prayer? When and how often do I pray? Do I spend at least as much time praising and thanking GOD as I do rattle off my list of petitions? How can I be more conscious of my need for a prayerful relationship with GOD? What steps will I take today in order to spend more time with GOD? What are some practical ways that I can remember to pray constantly?
*Saint Titus Brandsma: Given the birth name Anno, Brandsma and his siblings grew up on their parents’ dairy farm in rural Frisia. As devout Catholics, the family was in the minority among their Calvinist neighbors. From age 11 Anno was educated at a preparatory school for boys who were studying for the priesthood. He joined the Carmelite novitiate in 1898, taking the name Titus in honor of his father.
In the years following his 1905 ordination, Brandsma received a doctorate in philosophy and initiated a project to translate the works of Saint Teresa of Avila into Dutch. One of the founders of the Catholic University of Nijmegen, he served as a professor of philosophy and the history of mysticism at the school. While there Brandsma was known more for his availability to faculty and students than for his academic achievements.
Working as a journalist Brandsma served as ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. His long-standing opposition to Nazi ideology came to the attention of the Nazis when they invaded the Netherlands in 1940. In direct opposition to the Third Reich, the Conference of Dutch Bishops sent a letter ordering Catholic newspaper editors not to print Nazi propaganda. Fr. Brandsma was arrested while hand delivering the letter in January 1942. After being imprisoned in several other facilities, in June he was taken to the Dachau camp in Germany.
During his brief time at Dachau Fr. Brandsma was well-known for his kindness and spiritual support from other prisoners. His death on July 26, 1942, was a result of the Reich’s program of medical experimentation on prisoners. He gave a wooden rosary to the nurse who administered the fatal injection; she later became Catholic and testified to his holiness. In recent years Brandsma has been honored by both the cities of Nijmegen and Dachau. Titus Brandsma was beatified in 1985 and canonized in 2022.
Conscience often creates martyrs. That was the case for Titus
Brandsma. Many people “go along to get along,” not realizing that by doing so they
are destroying themselves internally. In his homily at the canonization Mass Pope
Francis said, “Holiness does not consist of a few heroic gestures, but of many small
acts of daily love.”
