A Kingdom of Enough: Contemplative Liturgy
Opening
from Wendell Berry, “The Wild Geese”
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here.
Silence.
The Gospel
Luke 11:1–13
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
“Give us each day our daily bread…” is one of the lines that shows us this is not a prayer about piety it’s a prayer about the way we order life together. Who has power. Who has food. Who has a future.
To pray “your kingdom come” is to say: let God’s way of doing things shape our way of doing things. Not my bread, but our bread. Not abundance for the few, but enough for all.
Jesus doesn’t teach us to pray for more. He teaches us to pray for enough. For today. For everyone. And then he follows it with a parable that shows us how this prayer works:
A man has unexpected guests arrive in the middle of the night, and he has no food. So he knocks on his neighbour’s door, asking for bread. It’s awkward. It’s inconvenient. It’s late. But the message is clear: in God’s economy, we are at times neighbours who knock and at other times the neighbour who opens the door.
We are to be each other’s answer. We borrow. We share. We ask, and we give. So the Lord’s prayer is not just about what we ask for, its about being people shaped to respond according to God’s kingdom.
.
Reflect
Where in my life do I grasp for more than I need?
How am I being invited to live with greater trust in God’s provision—and deeper solidarity with others?
What might it look like to pray the Lord’s Prayer not just with my lips, but with my actions this week?
Reflect as the music plays:
Pray
God of abundance and mercy,
you have taught us to pray not for excess,
but for enough—enough bread, enough courage, enough grace.
In a world driven by fear and scarcity,
let your kingdom come through acts of justice,
through tables stretched wide in welcome,
through hands that break and share bread freely.
By your Spirit, free us from the lie of not-enough,
and root us again in the sacred rhythm of daily trust.
May we live as people of the prayer Jesus taught—
faithful, forgiving, and fiercely generous—
until earth reflects the wholeness of heaven.
Amen.