“Do what you can, ask for what you cannot, and God will give you so that you can” (St. Augustine).
Once we have set out on the path of following the Lord, our Father takes us into His service and gives us great responsibility. We should never give up in the face of difficulties that may come our way and which tend to “puff up”, appearing bigger than they really are. This also applies to situations that seem insurmountable. Here we are invited to put into practice St Augustine’s phrase: we go as far as we can and at this point we ask our Father for the grace to face in the right way what lies before and beyond us.
Here we can understand the cooperation between grace and free will. St Bernard of Clairvaux says in this regard: “It is not that grace does half the work and free will the other half. Both do the whole work, each in its own way”.
This mysterious collaboration has been addressed many times and from different perspectives, and it is one of the wonderful things about working with our Father. He takes us seriously and at the same time He is always careful that we do not become conceited, knowing well our tendency to over-emphasise ourselves.
If we put St Augustine’s words into practice, we will not be blind to our limitations, but neither will we stop too soon in the face of them. By turning to the Lord when we reach our limits, we become aware of our dependence on His grace. Whatever we can do thereafter, moved by His grace, will lift our hearts to gratitude and prevent us from exalting ourselves.