Pope Francis Angelus Message: Lord, Increase our Faith, Increase Our Faith, Make it Grow!

Prayer is the breath of faith: in a relationship of trust, in a relationship of love, dialogue cannot be lacking, and prayer is a dialogue of the soul with God.

Yes, Lord, our faith is small, our faith is weak, fragile, but we offer it to you just as it is, so that you will make it grow. It seems to me that it would be good for all of us to repeat this together: "Lord, increase our faith!" Shall we do it? Everyone: Lord, increase our faith! Lord, increase our faith! Lord, increase our faith! Make it grow! And the Lord, how does he answer? He replies: "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree: 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (Luke 17:6). Pope Francis

P>VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) - We are please to present the Vatican Radio translation of the message our Holy Father Francis offered after leading the faithful in the Angelus prayer in St. Peters Square on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013 below.

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Pope Francis Angelus Message

Dear brothers and sisters, hello!

First of all I want to thank God for the day I spent at Assisi on Friday. Understand that this was the first time that I went to Assisi and it was a great gift to make this pilgrimage on the feast on St. Francis. I thank the people of Assisi for their warm reception. Many thanks!

Today the Gospel reading begins this way: "At that time the apostles said to the Lord: "'Increase our faith!'" (Luke 17;5-6). I think that all of us can make this request our own. We, like the Apostles, also say to Jesus:"Increase our faith!"

Yes, Lord, our faith is small, our faith is weak, fragile, but we offer it to you just as it is, so that you will make it grow. It seems to me that it would be good for all of us to repeat this together: "Lord, increase our faith!" Shall we do it?

Everyone: Lord, increase our faith! Lord, increase our faith! Lord, increase our faith! Make it grow!
And the Lord, how does he answer? He replies: "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree: 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (Luke 17:6).

The mustard seed is very small, but Jesus says that it is enough to have a faith like this, small, but true, sincere to do things that are humanly impossible, unthinkable. And it is true! We all know people who are simple, humble, but with an incredibly strong faith, who truly move mountains!

Think, for example, of certain mammas and papas who face very hard situations; or certain sick people, even gravely sick people, who convey serenity to those who visit them. These people, precisely because of their faith, do not boast about what they do, rather, as Jesus asks in the Gospel, they say: "We are useless servants. We have done what we were supposed to do" (Luke 17:10).

How many people among us have this strong, humble faith and do so much good!

In this month of October, which is especially dedicated to the missions, we think of many missionaries, men and women, who have overcome all sorts of obstacles to spread the Gospel. They have truly given their life; as St. Paul says to Timothy: "Do not be ashamed to bear witness to our Lord, nor to me, in prison for him; but with the power of God, suffer with me for the Gospel" (2 Timothy 1:8).

But this is meant for everyone: each one of us, in his everyday life, can bear witness to Christ, with the power of God, the power of faith, the small faith that we have, which, nevertheless, is strong! With this strength bear witness to Jesus Christ, be Christians with your life, with our witness!

And where do we get this strength from? We get it from God in prayer. Prayer is the breath of faith: in a relationship of trust, in a relationship of love, dialogue cannot be lacking, and prayer is a dialogue of the soul with God. October is also the month of the Rosary, and on this first Sunday it a tradition to recite the

Supplication to Our Lady of Pompeii - the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary. Let us join spiritually in this act of confidence in our Mother, and we receive from her hands the beads of the Rosary: the Rosary is a school of prayer; the Rosary is a school of faith!

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