A couple years ago I traveled to Peru with a group of seminarians and high school students from our diocese. The Diocese of Cusco down there is our sister diocese, and so we were able to visit lots of places where the Church in Peru is doing amazing things. We saw orphanages, schools, TV and radio stations - great examples of how Catholics can serve, even without a lot of money.
Of course one of the most powerful things I experienced was going to Mass. Though the language and customs were different, it was still the Mass. One thing stood out for me: when the priest lifted the host and then the chalice, the people all said something together. My spanish isn't that great, so I asked one of the other seminarians who is fluent what they were saying. He translated it as: "My Lord and my God, increase my faith."
At the moment when the bread and wine became the body and blood of Jesus, they were praying for the Lord to increase their faith. And I've said it in my head ever since.
We all have moments when we wish we had more faith. We wish we trusted in God in a deeper way. It's kind of a mystery: how some people just seem to have great faith and others do not. How some people, without any apparent effort, live their lives in the Church while others drift away.
I want to propose to you today that having faith, receiving faith, requires giving - and the stories of the two widows in our readings today show us that.
In the reading from the first book of Kings, Elijah is on the run. He is trying to get away from King Ahab, who is threatening his life, and God tells him that he will find refuge with this widow, but when he gets there, he finds her at the end of her rope. The only food she has left is what she was about to prepare for herself and her son. After that, they'll have nothing left to do but starve to death.
But Elijah has faith. He says, "Do not be afraid" and asks her to make him some food anyway. He is asking her to have faith, to trust in God. What's interesting is that this woman isn't even an Israelite, she's a foreigner, a gentile - but she does it anyway. She gives what she has - and God supplies the three of them for a whole year.
In the Gospel, Jesus and his disciples are watching people donate money to the Temple. Just like the widow Elijah met, the woman in the gospel gives everything she has - her last two coins. We don't know what her situation was, we don't know what she did after this - but she had faith. She trusted that if she surrendered everything to God, he would provide for her.
These two women, who were alone without anyone to help them, give us a powerful example of faith.
Faith isn't just feeling good. It's not just being happy about God.
It's about knowing, beyond human sight or reason, that God is with us.
And that faith requires sacrifice on our part.
One of the most common reasons you hear for someone not going to Mass anymore or not being an "active Catholic" is "I wasn't getting anything out of it." The reason we might feel like we're not getting anything is that we're not giving enough.
This isn't just about giving money or material things - yes, helping those in need is a vital part of being a Christian; but we're called to give more than just what we can see and touch.
God wants us to give our entire being - just as he gives everything he is to us.
That means spending time in prayer - time that could be spent watching TV or playing Words With Friends.
It means giving our attention at Mass, even when that's a struggle.
It means accepting the Church's teaching and doing our best to live it - even when we don't completely understand it.
It means letting go of things we may like, if we know they lead us to sin.
The widows in our readings sacrificed their lives. They gave all they had - and then trusted in God. That is faith. If we want to have more faith, you and I need to do the same.
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