God's absolute sovereignty in providing grace for the elect to accept and persevere does not imply a coercive action that bypasses their free will 1. Instead, His grace enables and strengthens their free cooperation, ensuring that those He has chosen will ultimately respond and remain faithful 1 2.
The Catholic understanding of grace emphasizes that divine initiative precedes, prepares, and elicits the free response of man 2. Grace responds to the deepest yearnings of human freedom, calls freedom to cooperate with it, and perfects freedom 2. God does not impose His grace on humanity; He simply offers it 6. While God calls humanity to a destiny that surpasses human powers and is purely by grace, this destiny corresponds to what the human person is, fulfilling human nature in and through the supernatural 7.
Regarding the distribution of this grace, the Church teaches that God, in His creative decree, has chosen to realize a world with a specific series of graces and circumstances that bring about certain results, including the salvation of the elect 1. This choice is immutable, and the list of the elect is closed 1. It is a gratuitous choice, meaning it is a gift that precedes any merit on our part 1. No one can merit this election 1. God could have chosen other possible worlds where different graces would have led to different outcomes 1.
Therefore, while God wills all men to be saved and provides sufficient grace for all to have the power to save themselves and the power to damn themselves, the special grace of final perseverance is not given to everyone 1. It is a gift given to those whom God has chosen, and this choice is prior to any merit or fault 1. This aligns with the teaching that "all can be saved if they wish," and "it is true, entirely true, that all men can, if they wish" 1. However, this willingness is itself a result of God's providential preparation and gratuitous choice 1.
Pope Francis emphasizes that the salvation God offers is a work of His mercy, and no human efforts can merit such a great gift 4. God, by His sheer grace, draws us to Himself and makes us one with Him, sending His Spirit to transform us and enable us to respond to His love 4. This principle of the primacy of grace constantly illuminates the Church's understanding of evangelization 4. Pope Benedict XVI also highlighted that the true initiative and activity come from God, and only by inserting ourselves into this divine initiative can we become evangelizers 8.
[1] Catholic Encyclopedia Teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo
[2] CCC 2022
[3] Select Questions on the Theology of God the Redeemer IV.30
[4] Select Questions on the Theology of God the Redeemer IV.29
[6] General Audience of 23 November 2005: Letter to the Ephesians - He chose us in him 2
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