Wednesday 23 September 2026
St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Proverbs 30:5-9. Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my feet – Ps 118(119):29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163. Luke 9:1-6.
The grace to cooperate
Our readings today are remarkably cohesive, all inviting us to reliance on God. In our moral lives, practical matters and proclaiming the Gospel we are asked to depend on him and not on our own provision, planning or even good intentions. This gets right the great dance of religious life in which, on the Christian understanding, God always leads.
God makes the first step towards us and supplies the grace that allows us to cooperate. On some theologies this leaves us with nothing to do; God picks us and we are simply compelled to go along. The Church has always rejected this. In our vision God’s grace does pre-empt and enable our repentance and faithfulness, but we remain free to accept his promptings or not. It is stretches comprehension that the God of the universe would subject his perfect will, our salvation and happiness, to our choice in this way.
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