Podcast Summary: The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)

Episode: Day 362: Our Daily Bread (2025)
Date: December 28, 2025
Host: Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension

Overview: Main Theme and Purpose

This episode focuses on the petition “Give us this day our daily bread” from the Lord’s Prayer, as explored in paragraphs 2828–2837 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Fr. Mike Schmitz delves into the multiple meanings of “our daily bread”—from its literal and spiritual interpretations to its profound connection with trust in God, social responsibility, and especially the Eucharist. The discussion aims to deepen understanding of this petition’s richness and its implication in the daily life of a Christian.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Trust of Children: The Core of the Petition

• Childlike Trust: Asking God for daily bread is itself an act of childlike trust, a central posture of the Christian soul.
  • Quote: “Give us the trust of children who look to their Father for everything is beautiful.” (00:56)
• God’s Parental Love: Emphasizes not feeling selfish in asking God for personal needs; coming to God in prayer glorifies Him by acknowledging His goodness.
  • Quote: “Jesus teaches us this petition because it glorifies our Father by acknowledging how good he is beyond all goodness.” (07:38)
• Personal Example: Fr. Mike compares this to how parents feel when their children come to them for help.

2. Material and Spiritual Meanings of “Our Bread”

• Basic Needs and More: The ‘bread’ we pray for encompasses both material needs (food, clothing, shelter) and spiritual needs (God’s word, encouragement).
  • Quote: “Life requires all appropriate goods and blessings, both material and spiritual.” (10:08)
• Trust Without Worry: As per Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, this petition cultivates freedom from worry, not idleness.
  • Quote: “He’s not inviting us to idleness, but wants to relieve us from nagging worry and preoccupation.” (10:35)

3. Solidarity and Responsibility for Others

• Global Perspective: The petition is not just about personal need—it’s a call to recognize and address the needs of others in the world.
  • Quote: “If we’re going to come before our Father and ask for what we need each day, we have to recognize that there are people around us who have needs each day.” (13:23)
• Justice and Generosity: True Christian living includes sharing both material and spiritual goods, motivated by love, not coercion.
  • Highlights the link to biblical parables like Lazarus and the Last Judgment.

4. The Balance: Prayer and Work

• Ora et Labora: The Benedictine motto of "pray and work" is expounded—relying on God while also fulfilling our responsibility to act.
  • Quote (St. Ignatius): “Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended on you.” (15:14)
• Gratitude: Even after our efforts, all provision is ultimately recognized as a gift from God.

5. The Deeper Hunger: Bread of God’s Word

• Evangelization and Spiritual Hunger: The petition also refers to a different hunger—the need for God’s word and the Gospel.
  • Quote: “There is a famine on earth, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8; see 17:40)
• Mission: Christians are called to both feed the hungry and spread the Word.

6. The Eucharist: “Superessential” Bread

• Epiousios: Explains the rare Greek word used for ‘daily,’ which can mean “for today,” “what is necessary,” or literally “superessential”—a direct reference to the Eucharist.
  • Quote: “Literally, you’ve been praying every time you pray that prayer for the Eucharist: Give us this day our super essential bread.” (21:08)
• St. Augustine and St. Peter Chrysologus: Quoted to reinforce the teaching that the Eucharist is our true daily bread.
  • St. Augustine: “The Eucharist is our daily bread. The power belonging to this divine food makes it a bond of union.” (26:26)
  • St. Peter Chrysologus: Christ is “the bread who sown in the Virgin, raised up in the flesh, kneaded in the Passion, baked in the oven of the tomb...furnishes the faithful each day with food from heaven.” (11:15)

7. An Invitation for Deeper Communion

• A Call to the Eucharist: Fr. Mike encourages all, especially non-Catholic listeners, to recognize that every time they have prayed “Give us this day our daily bread,” they have been, perhaps unknowingly, praying for the Eucharist.
  • Quote: “Every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer… you were praying God, someday, give me the Eucharist.” (23:29)
• Call to Action: He invites those considering the Catholic faith to take their next step toward full communion, hinting at initiation processes like RCIA.

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Trust:
  • “Give us the trust of children who look to their Father for everything is beautiful.” (00:56)
• On Glorifying God:
  • “It glorifies God to ask, even if the answer is no. It glorifies God to come before him and ask.” (07:38)
• On Solidarity:
  • “If we’re going to have a heart like the Father, then we have to have a heart like the Father… who is concerned for all the poor.” (13:35)
• On Prayer and Work:
  • “Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended on you.” (15:14)
• On the Bread of Life:
  • “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, that is, by the Word he speaks and the Spirit he breathes forth.” (16:56)
• On the Eucharist:
  • “Give us this day our super essential bread. Give us this day our Eucharist.” (21:08)
  • “The power belonging to this divine food makes it a bond of union. Its effect is then understood as unity, so that gathered into his body and made members of him, we may become what we receive.” (26:26, St. Augustine)
• Invitation:
  • “You were praying God, someday, give me the Eucharist. Let this maybe be the last straw… take the next step.” (23:29)

Segment Timestamps for Reference

• Opening Prayer and Theme Setting: 00:00–02:27
• Catechism Reading (2828–2837): 02:28–11:55
• Fr. Mike’s Explanation and Reflection:
  • On Trust and Asking: 11:56–13:22
  • On Bread’s Material and Spiritual Dimension: 13:23–15:13
  • On Solidarity and Social Responsibility: 15:14–16:55
  • On the Word and the Deeper Hunger: 16:56–18:48
  • On the Eucharist and “Epiousios”: 18:49–23:28
  • Invitation—A Call to the Eucharist: 23:29–27:11

Conclusion: Tone and Takeaway

Fr. Mike’s style is warm, encouraging, and pastoral, urging listeners not only to trustingly ask God for daily needs but to see the Lord’s Prayer as a call to deeper union with God, practical care for others, and, above all, to hunger for Christ in the Eucharist. The episode ends with an invitation for personal conversion and deeper faith, as well as communal encouragement.

“Let this prayer fan that flame of love, that flame of desire for Jesus in the Eucharist to a raging inferno… And let’s pray for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me.” (27:05, Fr. Mike Schmitz)