But
this far surpasses our own strength and for this reason Jesus teaches
and enjoins us to beg the Father that He may grant to us and to all
mankind the grace to do at all times His holy will. By this faithful
submission of our wills to the will of God we glorify God in the most
perfect way.

3. In our earthly pilgrimage to heaven we require divine assistance in
order to live our corporal and spiritual life according to the divine
Will. For this reason Christ instructs us to pray in the fourth
petition: "Give us this day our daily bread." That means: Give us, O
God, what we stand in need of for body and soul that we may live
according to Thy holy will.

We depend upon God in all things. He is our Creator and also our
Preserver. We could not live a single moment without his aid. As we
are composed of body and soul our wants are twofold, we have
requirements for the body and others for the soul. We stand in need of
food, shelter and clothing for body. All, rich and poor alike, must
petition God for these, for each one stands in God's hand. God can cast
the rich man down like Job, and free the poor man from all want. The
word bread includes all necessities of life. "Give me neither beggary
nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life" (Prov. xxx, 8).

That we are told to pray for our daily bread should remind us that we
must not be too solicitous for the morrow. He who gives unto us to-day
will also provide for us to-morrow if we humbly ask Him. We say: _Our_
bread, because it is our duty to earn it in an honorable manner by
industry and labor. "He who toils not, shall not eat." We say also
_our_ bread, and not _my_ bread, because we wish the poor who can not
help themselves to have it as well as we ourselves, and we must share
it with them as much as our means allow.

As our body requires nourishment, so does our soul. The food of the
soul is the word of God, and the Bread of Life that came down from
heaven. We must partake of this Bread of the soul by hearing the word
of God, by reading and meditation, and by receiving the Sacraments.

Thus has Jesus in the four first petitions taught and commanded us to
ask for everything that is necessary for the attainment of our last
end. In the three remaining petitions He instructs us to pray for
protection against all things which are obstacles to the attainment of
that end.

II. In these three petitions we ask that everything may be averted that
would hinder us from