Gods will to be done / Our dayly bread. / What bread mea neth.
Coming of the Kingdom
The master prays for the swift coming of God's kingdom.
Master. God grant that his kingdom may come—and quickly.
The Surrender of Self-Will
The student acknowledges our duty to obey the Father's will as creation and the angels do, not our own desires.
Student. Moreover, since children have a duty to shape their lives according to their father's will, rather than expecting their father to bend to their wishes, and since our own will is commonly enticed by our emotions and stirred by our desires to do things that displease God, it's reasonable for us to rely completely on our heavenly Father's direction and submit ourselves completely to his heavenly rule. For this reason, we mortals pray that we may obey his command just as the sun, moon, and other stars in heaven do: by following their set courses and continually shining their rays on the earth, they carry out the Lord's will; or we pray that, like the angels and other heavenly spirits, we may obey him in every respect, since they devote all their effort to carrying out his holy commandments.✦
Our Daily Bread from God Alone
The master teaches that 'bread' means all life's necessities, and we must pray to God alone as David says.
Next, he teaches us to ask our heavenly Father for our bread, meaning not only food but everything else needed to sustain and preserve life, so that we may learn that God alone is the source of all things and causes the fruits of the earth to grow in abundance.✦ Therefore, it's fitting that we call on him alone in prayer, for, as David says, he lovingly feeds and sustains all things.✦
Read the original English
Master. God graunte hys kyngdome may come: and that spedilye.
Scholer. Moreouer sithe it is the chyldrens duty to frame theyr lyfe too theyr fathers wyll: and not the fathers, to bowe to the childrens pleasure: forasmuch as our wyl is …ommonly by tickling of affeccions, and stirringe of lustes, drawen to dooe those thynges, that God is displesed with: it is reasō, that we hange whollye vppon the b…k of our heauēly father, & wholy submit oure selues to his heauenli gouermnēt. Wherefore, for thys cause, we mortall mē do pray, that we maye in like case be obedient to his commaūdemēt, as are the sonne and Mone and other sterres in heauen whiche bothe by ordinarye courses, and by lightninge the earthe with vncessaun…e beames, execute the Lordes wyll continuallye: Or that we, as the āgels and other spirites▪ diuine, in al pointes obey him: which bestowe al theyr trauayle diligently, to accomplish hys godly commaundementes. Next after that he teacheth vs, to aske of our heauenly father, our breade: wherby he meaneth not meate onlye, but also all thynges elles needefull for maynetenaunce, and preseruinge of life: that we maye learn, that God alone is authoure of al thynges: which maketh the fruytes of the earthe bothe to growe and encrease to plentye. Wherefore it is meete that we c…ll vpon hym alone in prayer: which (as Dauid sayth) … loue feedeth a…d maynteyneth all thinges.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.6.10 — Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
- ↩Matt.6.11 — Give us today our daily bread.
- ↩Ps.145.15-Ps.145.16 — The eyes of all look to you in hope, and you give them their food in its proper time. Ps.145.16 — You open your hand and satisfy every living thing with good.
John Ponet's Short Catechisme (1553) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit