Brian Hamilton-Vise

Give us this day

When we pray, “give us this day our daily bread,” our petition is not selfish. We are begging only subsistence–and even that God take from us any surplus. Recall how God gave manna to the Hebrews in the wilderness, and how what bread they tried to stow away became putrid and full of worms. Our daily bread, and no more. Tomorrow we will again ask our daily bread. Thus “give us this day our daily bread” repeats the condemnation of the rich man who built himself a bigger barn, remembering that “the safe barns are not walls but the stomachs of the poor” (St John Chrysostom).

7 May 2007 | Comments (1)
Tags: Money, Prayer