“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me...” (John 6:47)
Saint John Chrysostom comments on this verse from today’s Gospel reading:
“When he says, “All that the Father gives me shall come to me,” he touches on their unbelief, showing that whoever does not believe on him transgresses the will of the Father. He covertly shows that unbelievers are not only at variance with him but also with the Father. For if this is [the Son’s] will, and if this is the reason he came, that is, that he might save the entire world, then those who do not believe transgress his will. When, therefore, he says, the Father guides someone, there is nothing that hinders that person from coming to [Jesus]. And Paul says that [the Son] delivers them up to the Father. Now just as the Father, when he gives, does not take from himself, so neither does the Son take from himself when he gives up. The Son is said to give up to the Father because we are brought to the Father by him. And at the same time, we read that it was the Father “by whom you were called to the fellowship of his Son,” that is, by the will of the Father. Faith in me, he intimates here, is no ordinary thing or one that comes from human reason, but [it] needs a revelation from above. And this he establishes throughout his discourse, showing that this faith requires a noble sort of soul, and one drawn on by God. The expression “that the Father gives me” shows that it is no accident whether a person believes or not. It shows that belief is not the work of human reasoning but requires a revelation from on high and a mind devout enough to receive the revelation. “Whoever then,” our Lord says, “comes to me, shall be saved,” meaning they shall be greatly cared for. For to save such as these I took up flesh and the form of a servant.” (Homilies on the Gospel of John, 45)
Collect
Listen kindly to our prayers, O Lord,
and, as our faith in your Son,
raised from the dead, is deepened,
so may our hope of resurrection
for your departed servants
also find new strength.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
and, as our faith in your Son,
raised from the dead, is deepened,
so may our hope of resurrection
for your departed servants
also find new strength.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
