Homily originally presented on October 6, 2019

Lord, increase our faith!

3 months ago, I encouraged you to see the 2005 movie, “The Perfect Stranger” ,  by watching it on the Big Screen in our Parish Hall back on July 10^th or by ordering or renting a copy to watch at home.

It’s a well-done, Christian presentation of what it might be like to have dinner with Jesus. What would you ask Him? What would He tell you?     In this movie,

a modern day woman gets this chance and gets many wonderful insights.

One particularly powerful insight in the movie occurs when Jesus asks the woman to name a very holy person in history. She says, Mother Teresa

and Jesus takes the Salt shaker and places in on the edge of the dinner table.

Jesus asks her to name a very evil man in history; she says: Hitler.

and Jesus takes the Pepper shaker & places it about 12” apart from the salt.

Then Jesus asks her where she thinks she falls relative to these two people.

She picks up a packet of sugar and places it between the salt and pepper.

Jesus then tells her, “in order to get a sense of where God is in this, you’d have to place all three of these items in New York and place God in Los Angeles!”

The woman gasps, “So God sees Mother Teresa the same as Hitler.

Jesus says, “Of course not … Mother Teresa did many charitable things

while Hitler did many evil things.”

But the fact remains ... that God is vastly different from human beings.

God is perfect and human beings are not.

And the only way that we’ll ever get to be with God … is by the grace of God!

Where grace is the supernatural help of God!

Now, there’s simply no way for us to buy this grace.

And, there’s simply no way for us to earn this grace.

The only way to acquire this grace … is by faith!

Faith is a gift from God!

It cannot be earned or bought ... only responded to.

It is a free gift of God that moves us to respond with works of love and service.  

What is faith?      Faith is the human response to Divine Truth.

  Faith is our free response to God’s invitation to trust Him.

Faith is a free & humble act in which man admits of his radical insufficiency ...

... that God is in LA and we’re in New York! ...

and then places his total confidence that he will receive all that he needs from God.

In faith, man opens his arms to the saving advances of God,

which culminate in God’s gratuitous promise of eternal salvation.

Faith is above all ... belief in Jesus!

Faith is believing that Jesus really came from God and is the eternal Son of God.

St. Paul proclaims this today in Second Timothy saying, “Take as your norm the sound word that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

Do you have full faith in Christ Jesus?        Is He Lord and Son and Savior to you?

If you can’t reply instantly to these questions, then you need to humbly speak as the Apostles did in today’s Gospel when they said to Jesus, “Lord, increase our faith.”

You know, on one hand, it’s hard to imagine the Apostles making this request.

For they had the privilege of walking with Jesus for 3 years, during which time they got to see with their own eyes the many miracles He performed, and His mighty power over creation and yet they’re still asking Him to increase their faith in Him!

Well, we need to remember that, it wasn’t until after Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven that He sent the Holy Spirit into the world, descending first upon the Apostles, and bestowing on them the gifts of:   faith, hope and love.

Now in some way, the Apostles had developed a level of faith in Jesus, but still they were thirsty for more, which moved them to ask, “Lord, increase our faith.”

And the first thing that Jesus did in response to their request was to define what real faith would look like. He says,

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree,

‘be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Wow! Imagine having faith like that!

Jesus indicates it’s possible.

So, is faith important?

It’s extremely important …

for it’s the only way to bridge the gap between God & us …

to get from New York to Los Angeles and be with Him!

How are we saved?

We’re saved by Grace ... the Supernatural Help of God!

How do we get Grace?      

By having Faith in ... the one whom the Father sent to save us ... His Son, Jesus.

Recall the many Gospel accounts of Jesus healing people of some physical or mental or spiritual illness.  And after He cured them He said, “Your faith has saved you!”

Even the O.T. Prophet Habakkuk foretold this as he said today, “For the vision,  … presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. … the just one, because of his faith shall live.”

Yes, Faith is essential to being saved.

So, how do we increase our faith? Remember, we can’t buy it and we can’t earn it!

We increase our Faith when we become truly humble, and acknowledge that,

before God, we will always remain unprofitable servants.

Jesus tells His Apostles today, “When you have done all you have been commanded,

   say, ‘We have done what we were obliged to do.’”

It’s humility that helps us recognize that God alone is perfect …

and we are far from perfect!

No matter how good we think we are,

the difference between us and God, who is perfect …

is like the distance between New York and LA …

it’s huge … and unapproachable … except ... by the grace of God.

You know, money can buy many things.

But ... there are some things that money just can’t buy …

money can’t buy faith … and money can’t buy Heaven.

Both of them are huge gifts from God.

You don’t buy them or earn them ... you merit to receive them.

God wants us to have them ... and He’s told us how to receive them …

it’s by having faith in Him ... and in the One whom He sent, Jesus.

This involves having humility and obedience which is why Jesus told them the parable of the servant coming in from the field and continuing to serve his master.

He wanted to show them ... and us ... that there is nothing we can do

 to make God indebted to us.

We need to understand our place in the grand scheme of things.

• God is the Creator; we are the creatures.
• God is the King; we are the subjects.
• God is the Master; we are the servants.

This is His creation; we are mere stewards of His creation.

We won’t be here long!  This week, Mr. Huey celebrated his 90^th Birthday!

While that’s a nice long life ... it’s nothing in the span of God’s creation.

Science tells us that the Sun has been burning for 4 Billion years ...

and will burn for another 4 Billion years!

So a human life of even 100 years is nothing but a spark in the continuum of time.

We’re here for but a moment in time to use the talents and abilities ...

that God has given us ... for His greater glory and honor.        

Everything we have and give to God is already His!

When we have done our best, we’ve done only what we’re supposed to do!

Faithfully going to Mass or praying the Rosary will not make God indebted to us. Even becoming a Priest or a Sister, is not doing anything special.

The men and women who enter the religious life are simply living out

God’s vocation for them. They’re only doing what they were supposed to do.

Understanding this will serve to keep us from getting too uppity, too swept up with ourselves.    Doing our duty does not mean we’re doing God a favor.

But we are responding in a way that will merit us the gift of Eternal Life with God.

As Jesus told His Apostles,     “You can eat and drink afterward.”

Here, Jesus assures us that God will indeed reward those who serve Him.

As we go forward, let’s make the words of the Apostles our own ...

regularly asking Jesus:     “Lord,  increase my faith.”

And then through humility and obedience allow Jesus to draw you closer and closer to him in this life and ready to enjoy union with Him in Eternal Life.