Faith is a gift of God, and only He can increase it in our soul. He is the one who opens the heart of the believer so that it can receive supernatural light, and that is what we should be praying for. But at the same time, certain interior dispositions are necessary: they are disposition of humility, of purity, of openness¡Kof love which opens the way to a greater and greater security.

If at some time our faith were to falter in the face of difficulties, in our apostolate, etc or, if the faith of our friends, brothers and sisters, were to waver or weaken, we should imitate the good father in our Gospel today. In the first place, he asks for more faith because this virtue is a gift. But at the same time it depends on us. "To open the heart," - comments St. John Chrysostom, - "is a work proper to God¡Kbut to be attentive is a work proper to man: the act in this case is a work both of God's doing and of man's."

We should strive to imitate this poor father in his humility: he doesn't have any merit of his own to present, and for that reason has recourse to Our Lord's mercy : "Have pity on us and help us." This is the sure method that every prayer of ours should follow - to have recourse in this way to God's mercy and compassion. Jesus never denies those who place no obstacles between Him and them in the way of His granting the gifts they seek.