Reflection for Sunday 21 Feb 2021

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT

During this year’s Lenten journey here at the centre, we are considering how God often reveals himself in the ordinary things in life.

The first week’s theme is bread, and you can’t get more ordinary than that.

I would expect each of us eats bread regularly.

And for sure, as we say the Lord’s Prayer daily, or weekly, we are familiar with the words,

“Give us this day our daily bread”

The words come from Jesus to his disciples when he is teaching about prayer, known to us as The Lord’s Prayer.

Daily bread of course does not only refer to the food that we eat every day. It also includes everything that has to do with provisions that support us to flourish and to thrive.

These include clothing, homes, lands, animals, money, goods, relationships, families, friends, work, weather, peace, health and much more.

But..............how often do we get caught up in things that really are not essential to our daily living. Striving to gather more and more things, filling our homes our lives with things that do not really satisfy our hunger. Worrying endlessly about what would happen if we lost this “stuff” .................what will happen to this “stuff” when we are dead and gone...........

Jesus puts emphasis on bread for this day by saying, “Give us this DAY our DAILY bread.” The bread we ask for is not the bread for tomorrow, nor the bread for next year, nor for the next five years.

Jesus taught us to ask for bread for today, this day.

It is true and practical to plan for the future. However, we risk our peace, our well being, if we rack our minds with questions asking for bread for the coming days.

Jesus teaches us a serene trust in our Heavenly Father.

Jesus reminds us to focus on each and every day of our lives.

He says, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matt 6:34).”

When we ask God for our daily bread, we don’t pray, “God, give me what I want.” We ask God to give us what we need.

Our relationship with the Lord becomes a means of great gain when accompanied with contentment in our life by focusing on our needs for today.

Saint Francis de Sales said, “Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you today and every day.”

And so we pray.

Lord, give us this day our daily bread.