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 attaining our true goal, our salvation and the
glorification of God.

1. This obstacle, however, is sin and its evil consequences and these
three petitions have reference to sin and its evil consequences. We,
like all men, are sinners, and in our sins we can not worship God
properly, nor can we attain our salvation if God does not show mercy to
us. For this reason we humbly implore God in the fifth petition:
"Forgive us our trespasses." In these words we implore God to grant
unto us and to our fellow men a sincerely contrite heart and to
graciously forgive us our sins and the punishment due for them. As a
condition of forgiveness, however, God exacts from us that we forgive