Our Daily Bread

There are two interpretations of the bread that Jesus makes us ask of the Father. The first identifies it with the bread that came down from Heaven, that is, Christ, linking up with what Jesus says about himself: I am the Bread that came down from Heaven (Jn 6:41), I am the Bread of Life (Jn 6:48), if anyone eats this bread he will live forever (Jn 6:51). The other refers to the material bread of each day. In this case, Jesus makes me ask the Father for the bare necessities of existence. Not the superfluous, but only the necessary!

Furthermore, we do not ask give me my bread, but our bread. What does it mean to ask for the necessary for existence not only for me but for all men? Perhaps that manna will come down from heaven again? No; on earth there is already enough bread for all men, it is just badly distributed. Jesus tells me to pray asking for all men what is necessary for each day to make us responsible for the hunger of our brothers throughout the world.

With what nerve do I dare ask God for what is necessary for my brother, when I am the one who must provide, with all the superfluous that I have at home? The Father would tell me: look, what is necessary for your brother, the bread for your brother is already there, you have it; while you ask me to give your brother bread, at that very moment you are stealing it from him. If I truly want the name of the Father to be sanctified, if I am available to his plans, then I become responsible for the hunger of the whole world. I become, and I feel, responsible for the fact that there are people who do not have what is necessary to live, who do not have bread. I have opened my eyes to so many situations of injustice.

If I say these words without living them, I play ping-pong with God: I throw him a ball that he throws back into my field, telling me not to waste – me – what is necessary, the bread of others.


p. Mario Nascimbeni
NP June/July 2024