The most common
answer to the question that begins this article is: daily bread, that is, what
is necessary for living. We do not ask for opulence or wealth, but for what we
truly need. This interpretation is legitimate and should certainly be included
in the request of the prayer that Jesus taught.
Now, this “daily
bread” could have another meaning. Exegetes recognize that it is the
translation of a difficult term, which has a present sense, but also a future
sense (and therefore it would have to be translated as the bread of tomorrow,
the bread of the future). In fact, this expression, as interpreted by the first
Christian writers, could refer to the bread of the Eucharist (the true
eschatological bread), so that a possible translation would be: the bread of
eternal life, let us anticipate it today. This bread of eternal life is
anticipated in the Eucharist, where we receive the pledge of future glory.
St. Jerome
translates the mysterious word (“epioúsios”)
as “supersubstantialis.” This super-substantial bread, this new, superior
substance, Jerome interprets that it is given to us in the Blessed Sacrament,
the true bread of life: “This is the bread which comes down from heaven, so
that whoever eats it will not die” (Jn 6:50); “Your fathers ate manna in the
desert” (Jn 6:31) and they were still hungry, and they died (like us). Material
bread does not satisfy, nor does it fill the heart, nor does it ensure joy. “He
who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up
on the last day” (Jn 6:54).
In this petition
of the Lord's Prayer, our own needs are linked to the needs of our brothers
(that is why we ask for "our" bread and not my bread), but at the
same time this bread (especially when it is shared) makes us long for this
heavenly banquet, where there will be no more need, because we will be
overflowing with all good. This heavenly
table is anticipated in the banquet of the Eucharist, and is announced and
promised to us in the bread of the word of God.
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