Four ordinary people are sitting around the table, their hands folded in prayer and on their upturned faces (for three of them) an expression of silent supplication and even doubt or hesitation. The fish in the center of the table symbolizes the "daily bread. " It may be a reminiscence of Pechstein's sojourn among fishermen, at the time when he created these woodcuts. The fish is also one of the most ancient Christian symbols, and stands for Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior (ICHTHUS in Greek). Thus, the simple meal reflects the eucharistic table and communion with Jesus Christ. The table is shown from above, creating a plunging perspective and drawing the onlooker into the picture to make him/her an active participant in the event (Manteuffel) ."Bread " suggests both material and spiritual goods and blessings. It is a tangible way of saying that God is life, and a concrete expression of the covenant between God and us. This petition invites solidarity with the human family, and implies responsibility toward those who hunger. But, as Pechstein himself suggests, we do "not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God " ( Matthew 4 :4) .The deeper meaning of this invocation can be summarized in the following sentence attributed to Ignatius of Loyola: "Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you. "
This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by Jim Danis was last modified Wednesday, 04/18/2001 16:57:49 EDT by Jim Danis. Please send any comments to Johann.Roten@udayton.edu.
URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/gallery/works/giveusthisday.htm