able to bear it' (1 Cor. x. 13). 'God does not command impossibilities; but, when commanding, He admonishes us to do what we are able, and to pray for what we are not able to do, and aids us, that we may be able' (Counc. of Trent, Sess. 6, Ch. xiv.).
8. But what must we do on our part, in order that the grace of God may conduce to our salvation?
We must not resist it, but faithfully co-operate with it.
'We exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain' (2 Cor. vi. 1). God stretches forth His hand to save us; if we really wish to be saved, we must take hold of it, and not reject it. — Example of St. Paul: 'I have labored more abundantly than all they; yet not I, but the grace of God with me' (1 Cor. XV. 10).
9. Is it, then, also in our power to resist the grace of God?
Most certainly; for God's grace does not force the human will, but leaves it perfectly free.
'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not!' (Matt, xxiii. 37). 'To-day, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts' (Ps. xciv. 8).
Application. Pray daily to God to give you His grace, and take particular care not to close your heart against it. 'Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and -open to me the door, 1 will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me ' (Apoc. iii. 20). In order to make His grace operate the more easily in the human heart, God often connects it with exterior events; as sudden death, diseases, good and bad fortune. Do not heedlessly disregard such divine warnings; for nothing is more dangerous than not to know the time of the visitation of God. — Example: Jerusalem (Luke xix. 44).
§ 2. On the Grace of Sanctification or Justification.
10. What is Sanctifying Grace?
Sanctifying Grace is a gratuitous supernatural gift.
