The Work in Progress and the Man Who Couldn’t Wait: Grace in the Making

Phil 1:1-11, Psalm: 110, Lk 14:1-6

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

There is a sentence in today’s readings that should give every one of us hope. Saint Paul writes, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Not you will complete it. He will. We are not the architects of our own salvation. We are works in progress, and the Artist is God.

In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul writes from prison, yet his words overflow with joy. “I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel.” Paul loves this community. He prays that their love may “increase more and more with knowledge and every perception, to discern what is of value.” He wants them to be “pure and blameless” for the day of Christ. Notice the movement: grace begins the work, love increases, and God completes it. It is all gift.

Then, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is at a Sabbath meal in the house of a leading Pharisee. The Pharisees are watching Him closely—not to learn, but to trap. Before Him is a man suffering from dropsy, his body swollen and heavy. Jesus asks the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?” They remain silent. So He heals the man and sends him away. Then He asks, “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath?” They cannot answer. They care more about the rule than the person.

The connection between the readings is the patience of God’s work. Paul assures us that God will complete what He has begun. Jesus shows us what that completion looks like: a man healed, a burden lifted, a life restored. The Sabbath was made for man. Mercy is the heart of the law. And God is not finished with any of us yet.

Pope Francis has said, “God never tires of forgiving; it is we who tire of asking for forgiveness. He is the Father who runs to embrace us while we are still far off.” Saint John Paul II, in his encyclical Dives in Misericordia, wrote, “Mercy is the greatest attribute of God, and it is the mission of the Church to bring that mercy to the world.”

What does this mean for us? It means we do not have to be perfect today. It means our failures are not final. The same God who began a good work in us—at Baptism, at Confirmation, at that moment of conversion—is still working. He works through the sacraments, through prayer, through trials, through the quiet, ordinary faithfulness of daily life. And He will complete it. But we must cooperate. We must let Him in, especially in the confessional, where His mercy lifts our dropsy.

Today, let us examine our hearts. Do we trust that God is still working in us? Are we patient with ourselves and with others? Are we willing to be healed, even on the Sabbath, even when it is inconvenient? Let us ask the Lord to complete the good work He has begun in us, and to make us instruments of His mercy to a world that is swollen with grief.

For we are works in progress. And the Artist is faithful. Amen.

May God bless you all!