Believing, Being Drawn to Christ, Receiving divine Life
The following text from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6:22–71 (see below), presents both a visible and a hidden difficulty. The visible and obvious difficulty lies in the Lord’s language: He speaks to all those following Him about eating His flesh and drinking His blood.
Note: The text consistently uses the word “flesh”, not “body.”
It goes without saying that, for any human being relying solely on plain reasoning, with the natural light of intellect, what Jesus says seems truly strange. His words are very difficult to accept. As Christians, who by the grace of God received the gift of faith in Baptism, we often do not realise the radical difficulty an ordinary person encounters when hearing these words of the Lord. Let us recall that in the early centuries, only the baptised were permitted to attend the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the second part of the Mass), and the deacon would declare: “Catechumens out.” We also need to be aware that in those early centuries, Christians were accused of being anthropophagites. Why? Because they claimed to eat the body and drink the blood of a man. This is how they were perceived by non-Christians—by society at large—when they heard what happens in the Eucharist.
So this is the first considerable difficulty: the words of Jesus about the Eucharist—the very idea that God would institute such a rite, using such language. It is a fact that, in order to be accepted and received, this rite and these words required faith; they needed the grace of God. The dimension they open is a mystical one—there is no doubt about this. No one can deny it. The same applies to Saint Paul, who says: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Here, “mystical” means a form of communication or union that transcends normal human categories, where things are simply added or subtracted, but are not united in this mysterious and hard-to-explain way.
One must be open to the grace of God—which is already a form of faith—and one must receive that grace in order to understand His words. We must acknowledge the order in which grace operates. This is very important. By “order” here, we mean level, world, or dimension. Can we use an image to better understand this word “order”? When we move, for example, from two dimensions (a picture) to a video, which is action in motion, we shift to a different order of perception. This, of course, is only an image—a simple analogy—to help us grasp the movement from one order of thought or perception to another. Clearly, the order of grace transcends everything the human mind can apprehend (i.e., perceive and comprehend), but it is not foreign to it. In fact, the grace of God takes the human mind and elevates it to a higher light and a higher mode of functioning, enabling it to perceive reality in an entirely new way.
Chapter 6 is very long and is often seen by scholars as essentially having two parts: Part 1: Bread as Jesus’ Teaching (John 6:25–47); Part 2: Bread as Eucharistic Flesh (John 6:48–59)
Of course, one cannot simply reduce verses 25 to 59 to this distinction alone. St. John’s message is much richer and frequently touches on the golden thread of his Gospel: the dynamics of faith. Let us remember his Gospel’s first conclusion, which offers a synthesis of the entire message: it is meant to lead us to a full and wholesome act of faith. This act—opening ourselves to Him, the real Him (who is God)—allows us to receive divine life, that is, the Holy Spirit, the life He came to bring us: “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30- 31)
In light of this conclusion and the structure of the entire Gospel, we can say that the golden thread running through it is a teaching on the act of faith. We must also remember the temptation, while reading the Gospel, to assume we already know what faith is—to project our own understanding of faith and the act of faith onto the text, and from that assumption deduce what John means by faith. It is far better to be patient, to take time to become St. John’s disciple—a disciple of his teaching—and, day after day, to discover his deep and multifaceted instruction on the act of faith.
Note: St. John never uses the noun “faith.” Rather, he presents faith dynamically as an action: it appears in his Gospel always as the verb “to believe.”
St. John truly strives to help us understand, learn, and practise the act of faith—to believe. At each stage of his Gospel, he adds nuances and teachings on this act. Recall that he prepares for the perfect or pure act of faith by guiding us through a journey of six signs (chapters 1 to 11/12). These prepare us to enter into the Lord’s Passion and to behold His glory revealed in it: “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.” (John 12:41) This refers to Isaiah 53, not to Isaiah 6:1–6.
On this journey of growth—of adjustments, purification, deepening, and increased fruitfulness in the act of faith—we come to this long passage of chapter 6. Remember: this chapter contains the fourth sign that John presents to us—the multiplication of the bread and the crossing of the sea. Altogether, there are six signs, followed by the final and central one: the Cross and the opening of Jesus’ side (John 19).
Let us now read this long and important text.
“22 The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realised that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone. 23 However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him. 25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” 26 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” 28 Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” 30 So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.” 35 Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. 36 But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” 41 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’” 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. 44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.” 52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. [they belong to the level of faith, not just mere thinking. Only faith can receive the grace which allows to receive and understand the contents of these words] 64 However, there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him. 65 Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” 66 From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. 67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.”
The less evident difficulty lies in a statement of Jesus found in verses 37, 44, and again in verse 65 of John 6. In verse 37, He says: “Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me.” In verse 44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him,” and in verse 65: “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” Why does the Lord say this? And what does it mean? He says it quite simply because the words He has spoken—about eating His flesh and drinking His blood—are impossible to grasp and receive without the light of faith, without divine grace. As the text says, “many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.” This moment is a decisive turning point. On one hand, it is tragic; on the other, it is rich in teaching on the theology of grace and the dynamic between faith and grace.
It is tragic because these people who turned away are called “disciples” by John. Jesus does not soften or dilute His mystical teaching for His disciples. He maintains it in its full, “rough” form—something difficult to accept with the light of reason alone. What is divine remains divine. What is spirit remains spirit. At the same time, who can blame these disciples? Yet what is striking is the explanation the Lord gives for their departure: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”
In the face of such a statement, we are left somewhat bewildered. Its obvious meaning appears to be that God must draw us to Himself—or to Jesus—otherwise we cannot enter into the mystical mystery, nor accept it, live it, and live from it. We cannot enter into the mystical intimacy of God unless He draws us to Himself. The lingering and tragic question becomes: what if the Father does not draw us, as was apparently the case with these disciples? Are we left simply waiting for this grace? How can we discern whether we have received it? These are tragic questions, leading us into existential considerations such as predestination, divine election, and the mystery of why one person is chosen and another not. How can this be a teaching on faith, if in any case we first need God to draw us?
But we also have the right to ask: is this truly what the Lord meant by these repeated statements in verses 37, 44 and 65? What if there is something we are failing to understand in His words?
Anyone familiar with the teaching of St Teresa of Avila on the general and particular helps of God’s grace—or with St. Thomas Aquinas’ doctrine on the grace that prepares us to receive sanctifying grace—will find it easier to grasp the explanation that follows. Indeed, there is a missing link that we need to identify in order to understand this teaching and these bold statements.
Let us consider the working of grace according to Teresa of Avila. Following St Thomas Aquinas, she teaches a clear distinction between the general help of God’s grace (the grace which predisposes or prepares us) and the particular help of grace (sanctifying grace, or the personal and direct intervention of the Holy Spirit within us). She repeatedly insists that God continually offers us the general help of His grace to enable us to draw closer to Him. She even goes so far as to say that we must use and reuse this grace in order to recollect ourselves and approach God—using it consistently until it becomes a habit (see Way of Perfection, chapters 26, 28, and 29).
We could say that for St. John, drawing closer to God is fundamentally an act of opening oneself to God’s initiative. Once we take that step—opening ourselves to divine action—God the Father draws us to His Son, to Jesus. This, in turn, leads to the reception of divine life (cf. John 20:30–31).
Let us express this two-step movement in the following way:
As we can see, the “distance,” so to speak, that separates us from Jesus is bridged in two distinct “steps.” These steps are not of the same nature: one depends on us—taking place within the “sea”—where we respond with the general help of God’s grace; the other is God’s own intervention—spanning the “air and space” that leads to the “sun”—where He comes to lift us up, to draw us to the Lord, with the particular help of his grace. In this sense, if we believe in the Father and remain open to His work, He never fails to come and take us, lifting us and drawing us into union with the Son.
The two illustrations that follow represent common but mistaken interpretations of what the Lord is saying.
The first mistaken interpretation is illustrated in the drawing as a single, isolated attempt to reach the Son. It embodies the reproach Jesus addresses to those disciples who ultimately stop following Him in chapter 6 (see above). These individuals are trying to draw near to Jesus by their own effort, relying on their own capacity, intellect, and strength. In the drawing, we see only step (1): a solitary arrow reaching upward, attempting to attain the Son without God’s intervention. This effort fails. They attempt to understand Jesus’ words—such as “eat my flesh and drink my blood”—without the help of the Father. They aim to reach the Son without the act of faith, without openness to the Father’s drawing, His work, His grace. Yet, as Jesus clearly states, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Without the grace of God, we cannot truly draw near to the Son; we cannot enter into His mystery.
The following drawing (see above) completely removes our effort (1) and retains only God’s intervention (2), implying that we need to wait for God’s intervention—God’s grace—to be introduced into the Son. This is probably the most widespread understanding (or misunderstanding) of verses 37, 44 and 65. We are waiting for God, but we are not using His general grace to draw closer to the Father’s intervention.
As we can see, it is very easy to miss a crucial step in our response to God’s call. We risk becoming passive, endlessly waiting for God to act! Meanwhile, God desires that we humbly express our desire and choice, by using the general help of His grace to be open and draw closer to the Father’s intervention and uplifting power.
The teaching that St. John offers us here on the act of faith is very important and often overlooked or misunderstood.
Let us re-read this long text: 28 Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” As we can see here, St. John is showing us the Lord’s teaching on the act of faith. We need to believe in Jesus. In the drawing, the goal is to reach the Sun, to have our heart in the Sun. The Sun, of course, is the image of Jesus. To be united to Jesus, to reach out, and therefore receive the Divine Life that the Son came to give us. But how can we reach the Son? The disciples ask Jesus: 30 “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You?” Indirectly, we can understand this as meaning: who are you? You are just a human being. What is the point of believing in you? What will You do to show us that we need to believe in You? What transcendent act will You perform to make us believe in You? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” It is about food in this chapter. And the food in God’s mind is the Son—His Flesh and His Blood. We need to eat Him in order to be united to Him. In the first part of this chapter, Jesus multiplied the bread! That was a sign, but it wasn’t understood. Jesus is about to explain who He is and the need to eat Him and be united to Him: Communion. 32 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” It is the Father who sent Him to us, who is giving the Son to us, so we can be united to Him and dwell in Him. Of course, they are far from understanding that He is alluding to Himself. 34 “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.” Jesus will speak clearly now: 35 Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. 36 But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. If we believe in Him, if we believe that He is God, that He is the Son of the Father, that the Father sent Him to us, and that the Life He has in Him, He wants to share with us, then the Father can intervene and lift us to Him, by His grace. Once we believe: 37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus clearly states that the Father sent Him and that He is the Son of God, and that eternal life is in Him, which He can give. Of course, this elevates the teaching to another level—a divine level. He is not just a man; He equals Himself with the Father and considers Himself the Son of the Father. It was necessary to show who He is, and at the same time, it meant that reaching Him can only happen through grace—not by our own strength. 41 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”
This is the first stage of the difficulty: He is divine, He is God, He is the Son of God, and He is the true bread the Father would like to give us—with the condition of the act of faith made with the help of the given general grace of God. The act of faith is faith in God, which can only be reached with the direct help of God Himself (the particular help of the grace of God).
Jesus will explain the distance, the impossibility of reaching His true being—His divinity—if the Father does not intervene. He is explaining how to make the act of faith. The end of the act or its goal or object is Jesus the divine, the Son of God, not just the son of Mary and Joseph. But also, the means to reach this goal—the divinity of Jesus—requires the Father’s direct intervention. What is spirit is spirit; the flesh doesn’t help. The flesh can’t lift us to Jesus’ divine level.
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. 44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. To “hear the Father and learn from Him” requires making the act of faith, i.e., being open to His intervention and His gift (the Son). As a result, the Father will lift us to the Son, and give us the Son, along with the eternal life that is in Him. 47 Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.
At this point, Jesus is directly introducing the mystical dimension of communion with Him. He uses the “crude” expression of eating His flesh. It is a difficult and challenging concept for those who do not make the act of faith, i.e., those who are not open to the Father’s intervention and, therefore, cannot be lifted to the Son’s level: 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”
It is evident that the disciples, the Jews, who did not entrust themselves to the action of the Father, cannot enter into the mystical mystery the Lord is explaining. They rely on the strength of their own understanding without asking for the help of the Father’s intervention. 52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
Jesus does not soften His teaching. He intensifies it by developing the difficulty further: 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
John emphasises the importance of this teaching by tying it to a specific location: the synagogue in Capernaum. For those who are not open to the Father’s intervention through the act of faith, the teaching becomes a true challenge: 60 On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”
Against expectations, the Lord does not make it easier for them. He confirms the shocking nature of His words and alludes to the Cross (death) and His Ascension into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. 61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?” The difficulty of belief would only increase.
It is only through the Father’s intervention, with the Holy Spirit, that we can be united to the Son. Human effort alone, based on the mind, cannot bring us to the divine realm. 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. They belong to the level of faith, not mere reasoning. Only faith can receive the grace that allows us to understand and accept these words.
John then offers commentary on the situation: 64 However, there are some of you who do not believe.” This means there were some who were not open to the Father’s intervention, His lifting power, which would have enabled them to reach Jesus, understand, and accept His mystical words. John adds: For Jesus knew from the beginning who would not believe and who would betray Him. Jesus was able to perceive the openness, or lack thereof, of hearts to the Father’s intervention. Once again, He emphasizes the necessity of the Father’s intervention in order to reach Him, to enter His realm, and to understand His mystical teaching. Jesus confirms that only with the intervention of the Father, through the Holy Spirit, can the mind and heart be lifted to Jesus’ level. 65 Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” (This refers to verses 37 and 44.) Jesus makes it clear: He is at the right hand of the Father, and in order to understand His words, we need to be with Him. From the surface of the sea to Me, only God can help you cross that distance!
66 From that time on, many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. It is not that the Father is not drawing them, but that they refuse to open themselves to the Spirit, to the Father’s intervention, which would have lifted them to the Son so that they could understand His mystical teaching. This illustrates why a proper understanding of the act of faith—considering both the two aspects of God’s grace, and what God expects from us (1) and what God wants to do (2)—is of utmost importance.
The chapter concludes with this dialogue, summarizing for us the goal of the act of faith: Jesus, who is God. We must believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God, with all that this truth entails—the necessity of the Father’s intervention, enabling us to receive the Son’s eternal life and understand the Son’s words, which communicate Eternal Life!
67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.”
The following text says: “My sheep listen to My voice.” (John 10:27) Here too, we might think that God makes an exclusive choice, leaving many people out. Let us try to understand how the text needs to be interpreted. First, let us read the context:
“24 So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, ‘How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’
25 ‘I already told you,’ Jesus replied, ‘but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf.
26 But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe.
27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.’” (John 10:24–30)
The Lord also says that the Father has given Him the sheep He has chosen. Again, we might be tempted to think that God predetermines whom He will elect—who will be His sheep and who will not. But we must take careful note of when, exactly, the Father gives the sheep to the Son: it is when we believe in the Son as sent by the Father, when we open ourselves to the Father’s voice within us and to his (lifting) action, when we offer ourselves to Him in order to be lifted to the Son and receive the gift of the Son.
Once we open ourselves—when we give ourselves to the Father—He comes, takes us, unites us to the Son, and gives us to the Son. The movement or action of the Father’s grace belongs solely to God the Father (without, of course, excluding the Holy Spirit): “No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:29). In fact, the Father is moving, so to speak, within His own kingdom (air and space on the diagram). This is where He reigns. He takes us and unites us to the Son. As the text here says, once we are entrusted to the Son, “no one can snatch” us out of the Son’s hands.
Therefore, to understand how the grace of God operates—how the action of the Father unfolds—we must remember the first key step: to believe in the Son as a gift from the Father. The text states it clearly: “I already told you, but you did not believe” (John 10:25). Had they believed, they would have been open to the Father’s work, and the Father would then have taken them into His mighty hand, lifted them up to the Son—who is seated at His right hand—and given them to the Son: this is how they listen to His voice!
The Father and Jesus the Son are one (John 10:30).
Read Also
The Unavoidable Mystical Dimension of Christianity
Is John 1:14 About the Incarnation?
The Meaning of St. John’s Gospel and its Implications for the Life of the Church
The New Testament Vision of Prophecy, A Johannine Path for Every Baptised
Jesus’ Passion in St. John’s Gospel
The Particular Help of the Grace of God in St. Teresa of Avila
St. Thomas Aquinas Explanation (General Help and Particular Help of God’s Grace)