Recently I read a quote from St. Catherine of Genoa that almost feels like a spiritual tightrope. It’s a place when surrender and responsibility meet:
“We must not wish anything other than what happens from moment to moment, all the while, however, exercising ourselves in goodness… To refuse to exercise oneself in goodness… would be simply to tempt God.”
There’s a whole way of living tucked inside those words.
So many of us lean too far in one direction or the other. We either cling to our own plans, resisting the moment we’re actually living, or we drift into a kind of passive spirituality—waiting for God to act while we stand still. Catherine refuses both extremes.
She invites us into a deeper freedom:
Receive the present moment as it is, without fighting it. And at the same time, step toward the good that is yours to do.
This is not resignation. It’s not “whatever happens, happens.” It’s the trust that God is already present in what is, not in the imaginary life we wish we had. And yet that trust doesn’t excuse us from choosing love, practicing virtue, or taking responsibility for our part in the story.
To surrender without acting is presumption.
To act without surrender is self-reliance.
The spiritual life asks for both.
Maybe the invitation today is simple:
Welcome the moment you’re in. Then do the next good thing.
Smitten With Goodness 