Feast of St. Catherine of Siena

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Tuesday, 29 April 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the great love which God has bestowed upon us through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and how this great love of God has been manifested in our midst and made real and tangible through the Church, which God Himself established in this world to be the real union of all the faithful people of God, all parts of the same Church, the one united Body of Christ. And we heard of how the early Christians lived their lives in reflection of this loving relationship between God and His Church, as well as between the people of God themselves in their respective communities, which were at that time still at the very early and nascent stage. And yet, they can serve as good examples and inspirations for all of us the faithful people of God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, just as I had mentioned earlier, we heard of the lives of the early Christian communities, which were then still mostly centred around Jerusalem and Judea, and its surrounding regions like Galilee, and parts of Syria among the Jewish diaspora and the Gentiles. It was still a relatively small and simple community of the faithful people of God, and as mentioned, we heard how they all lived in a great and incredible state of grace. The earliest Christians lived in harmony and peace with one another, sharing their goods and possessions to support each other, such that no one among them were to be found wanting for the lack of resources and goods. Those who had more with them and been blessed more bountifully shared more of their riches and blessings with those who had less.

Back then the Apostles and the other disciples managed this distribution of goods and resources, which the faithful brought regularly to be offered to the Church through the Apostles. That was how the very earliest Church community lived, in great love both for God and for their fellow brothers and sisters. There we can see how God’s instructions and teachings were manifested in the livelihood of His Church, where the faithful lived with great harmony with each other and in dedication to God. Of course this is not practical or possible in our Church community today, which spans the whole entire world and numbering over 1.4 billion people. However, in our own parishes and smaller Christian communities we should apply the same way of living our lives wherever applicable, to be truly loving towards God and our fellow brothers and sisters alike.

Essentially, as Christians all of us are called and reminded to be truly filled with God’s love and grace, in everything that we say and do, in our every actions and deeds, our every interactions with each other. We should always be doing what the Lord has taught us to do in our lives, to be good and caring, loving and compassionate people who share our blessings with one another. Without genuine love and care for others, we cannot truly call ourselves as Christians, because as Christians we follow God and His ways, and God is Love. We cannot be true Christians if we do not practice love in our actions and way of life, and if we do not carry out Christ’s teachings and love in our every interactions with those we encounter in life. That is why we have been constantly reminded today and on previous days to be truly filled with God’s love in all things.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, in which the Lord Jesus continued with His discussion with Nicodemus the Pharisee, who was one of the few who were sympathetic about the Lord’s teachings and ways, unlike many among his fellow Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin. The Lord Jesus continued to speak about the matter of being born again in the Lord and how He alone knew all these things and truths hidden from even the wise and learned ones at that time, like Nicodemus and his fellow Pharisees, as Jesus Himself came from God, our Heavenly Father. By the will of the Father, His Son and Word has become incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit, manifesting perfectly the love of God in the flesh, becoming tangible and real for us.

And yes, this great love of God that has been manifested to us would show this perfect love by His selfless and most willing sacrifice on the Cross, which was alluded in that Gospel passage today, in the conversation of the Lord with Nicodemus, by referring to how the Son of Man would be raised up just as Moses had raised up the bronze serpent during the time of tribulation for the Israelites. At that time, the Israelites had sinned greatly against God and in their stubborn disobedience, they had to suffer and die because of their sins, when fiery serpents from the Lord came against them and bit many among them. But when they all cried towards God and asked Him for His mercy and forgiveness, God gave them this mercy and forgiveness through Moses, who made for them the image of the bronze serpent, which would become the archetype of the Crucifixion and Christ’s salvation.

For by His Cross, His Crucifixion, all of His suffering and death on that same Cross, Christ has made Himself visible to all, the love of God most wonderful and most generous, made available to all of us sinners. Through Him, the Lord has made the path to His salvation and eternal life visible to all, restoring our hope and bringing back the Light of God to all of us who have been living in the darkness. Through Christ and His loving sacrifice, God has opened for us the path to redemption, and hence, the restoration of our unity with Him, as He calls upon each and every one of us to come back to Him with sincere love for Him and with contrite and repentant hearts. All of us as Christians should always heed and remember God’s most generous love, and show that same love to one another as Christ Himself has shown us.

Today also marks the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, a truly renowned saint and holy woman, who devoted herself and her whole life to God as a committed laywoman and a mystic who received many visions and inspirations from the Lord, which she wrote extensively about and which eventually led to her being designed as one of the few Doctors of the Church for her contributions. St. Catherine of Siena was born into a large family as one of the youngest children of her parents, and since her youth she had been growing up in a pious state, receiving visions from the Lord from the age of as young as about five years old. She committed herself strongly to God and devoted herself to the service of others around her, eventually becoming a great inspiration to many people around her, helping many who were sick and suffering, and was even involved in the resolution of conflicts and bickering among the people.

St. Catherine of Siena went extensively around the region in her many ministries and involvements in the Church, and was even advising the Pope himself on the need for him to return to Rome during those turbulent years when there were rival claimants to the See of St. Peter, in the years of the Avignon Papacy and the later Western Schism. Through her many efforts, St. Catherine of Siena brought many people close to God and as a result, many more people came to be saved and brought inspiration to countless others throughout the centuries after her time, as she is also to us Christians today, in showing us how we can be truly filled with God’s love, and be loving towards both God and our fellow brothers and sisters, in the manner that St. Catherine of Siena had done.

May the Lord, our most loving God, our Risen Lord continue to be with us all His people, that each and every one of us as Christian faithful, God’s disciples and followers, may continue to walk faithfully in the path that the Lord has shown us. May He continue to bless our efforts and good works, everything that we have done for His greater glory, for the good of the Church and all of His people, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 April 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 3 : 7b-15

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again from above. The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus asked again, “How can this be?” And Jesus answered, “You are a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things! Truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we witness to the things we have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. If you do not believe when I speak of earthly things, what then, when I speak to you of heavenly things? No one has ever gone up to heaven except the One Who came from heaven, the Son of Man.”

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

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Tuesday, 29 April 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 92 : 1ab, 1c-2, 5

YHVH reigns, robed in majesty; YHVH is girded with strength.

The world now, is firm; it cannot be moved. Your throne stands from long ago, o YHVH; from all eternity You are.

Your decrees can be trusted; holiness dwells in Your House, day after day, without end, o YHVH.

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Tuesday, 29 April 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 4 : 32-37

The whole community of believers was one in heart and mind. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions; but rather, they shared all things in common. With great power, the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, for all of them were living in an exceptional time of grace.

There was no needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of the sale. And they laid it at the feet of the Apostles, who distributed it, according to each one’s need. This is what a certain Joseph did. He was a Levite from Cyprus, whom the Apostles called Barnabas, meaning : “The encouraging one.” He sold a field which he owned and handed the money to the Apostles.

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Monday, 29 April 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all listened to the Scripture readings today, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to remember that God is truly the centre and focus of our whole lives and existence. Each and every one of us as Christians must always remember that God is the reason for our existence in this world, and everything we have and all of our blessings and graces all originated from Him. It is important therefore that we must always remember that we should not be easily tempted by the corruptions of the world, all the temptations of pleasure, worldly glory and all the other things which may impede our path towards the Lord’s grace and salvation, and which may lead us down into the eternal damnation and destruction. That is why we should always continue to keep our gaze focused on the Lord, directing our whole lives towards Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which the works of the Apostles, particularly that of St. Paul and his companion, St. Barnabas, were highlighted to us. And in today’s passage we heard how they went to the city and region of Lystra in Lycaonia, which is located in Asia Minor, in what is present day part of southwestern Turkey. In that region, there were then still few or no believers in Christ yet, and the two Apostles went to a community which were deeply steeped in their worship of the pagan Greek and local regional gods, as they embarked on a missionary journey to that region. It was there that we heard how St. Paul healed a paralysed man by the Name of the Lord Jesus, which miraculously healed the paralysed man.

And as we all heard, this amazing occurrence led to an immediate response from the townspeople, all of whom thought that St. Paul and St. Barnabas were the avatars or the human disguise that their pagan Greek gods were assuming as they walked in their midst. We have to understand the context that this was what the Greeks commonly believed at that time, that their so-called gods would come from time to time in human forms, doing things just as what they themselves were doing, and naturally as they saw the miraculous deeds done by the two Apostles, they would associate them with these gods of theirs. However, the reality was that St. Paul and St. Barnabas was representing a far greater Being, the One Who is the One and only True God, and not those false pagan gods that the Greeks in Lystra and elsewhere believed in.

We heard how the two Apostles tried in vain proclaiming the Lord Jesus and His truth to them, as the townspeople kept on honouring and treating them as how they treated their gods and idols. For one to experience so much glory, fame and praise, it must have indeed been very tempting for the two Apostles to immerse themselves in all the adoration and praise that they were receiving, and it was likely that Satan must have been busy in trying to tempt them, but they certainly paid no heed to him, as they remained focused on the Lord and committed to the mission which He had entrusted to them. The Lord had entrusted to both of the Apostles with the important task of proclaiming His truth, Good News and salvation to the people of all the nations, and to call on all of them to embrace His truth and love, rejecting the wicked and sinful ways of their past, and that was exactly what both of the Apostles had done.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the matter of following the commandments and Law of God, and how all those who profess to believe in Him and His truth have to truly be obedient to the commandments and the truths which the Lord Himself had brought and revealed into this world, to our midst. He told them all that first and foremost, they all must love Him and put Him above all else, and unless they do this, then they cannot truly be His disciples and followers. By loving Him, then they will come to know more about Him and His truth, as through His love, He has endeavoured to bring forth God’s love and truth into our midst, revealing everything that He had planned and desired for us from the very beginning of time.

Each and every one of us must always love the Lord first and foremost in all things and have Him as the centre and focus of our lives so that in everything, we will always keep in mind to follow Him and to obey whatever it is that He has commanded and entrusted to us to do in our respective lives. He has granted us the many opportunities and chances to live our lives in the manner that He Himself has shown us, to be the ones through whom God made His works and presence manifest in this world, as we have been guided and strengthened, empowered and led by the Holy Spirit, to be the shining beacons of God’s Light and truth, the bearers of His Good News to all the people of all the nations, just as He has entrusted to us, the primary mission of the Church, which is the evangelisation of the whole world.

If we have not first loved the Lord and focused ourselves and our whole lives on Him, how can we then go forth out there and proclaim the Lord and His truth? We must first be full of faith and love for the Lord, or else others will quickly see in us the lack of faith and true dedication to God, and the hypocrisy of our lacklustre faith and lack of love for Him. That is why, we must truly make the effort to live our lives with genuine love for God and also with love for our fellow brothers and sisters. Each and every one of us must always strive to bring the light of Christ, His salvation and grace to more and more people all around us, so that through us, God may indeed touch the lives of many more who have not yet known and experience His love and kindness.

Today, the Church commemorates the feast of a great woman and servant of God whose life and dedication to the Lord should serve as a great example and inspiration for all of us to follow. St. Catherine of Siena was a renowned saint who was already pious and committed to God from very early on in her life and having experienced mystical experiences throughout her life, as she received a vision from the Lord from when she was only six or seven years old. She resisted the efforts to get her to be married, and continued to commit herself to the path of the Lord, which eventually led to her family accepting her choice, and leading her to commit herself to a life of holy virginity committed to the Lord, declaring herself to the bride of the Lord, which she herself described in her writings as a ‘Mystical Marriage’.

St. Catherine of Siena dedicated herself completely to the service of God and His people, full of generosity and compassion for those who were suffering in the midst of her community. She frequently helped out in the hospital and the other establishments in her area, and her reputation for generosity, loving care and her great piety and holiness quickly gained her the respect and admiration of many people, and even the Pope came to respect her, and based on her many theological writings and works, her piety, wisdom and experiences, she was soon involved in many events in her community at the time. She was known for her travels throughout many parts of Italy, spreading her thoughts and experiences, settling issues and conflicts between various groups and political institutions. She also helped to mediate their conflicts and inspired many to come to seek the Lord. Even the Pope heeded her advice to return to Rome after a long period of time in Avignon. Her many writings and experiences still influenced us even to this day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the great examples shown by St. Catherine of Siena let us all therefore be inspired to be faithful and committed disciples and followers of the Lord as she had done. Let us always strive to put the Lord first and foremost in all things, and let us all be ever more dedicated to Him, in doing His will and in answering His call, to do whatever missions He has entrusted to us in our respective lives. May the Lord continue to strengthen and guide us in our journey and efforts through life, and may He continue to bless our every efforts and endeavours, for His greater glory so that our every lives, actions, words and deeds will truly be worthy of Him, and be the shining beacons of His light, truth and salvation, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 29 April 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 21-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever keeps My commandments is the one who loves Me. If he loves Me, he will also be loved by My Father; I too shall love him and show Myself clearly to him.”

Judas – not Judas Iscariot – asked Jesus, “Lord, how can it be that You will show Yourself clearly to us and not to the world!” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My Father will love him; and We will come to him and make a room in his home.”

“But if anyone does not love Me, he will not keep My words; and these words that you hear are not Mine, but the Father’s Who sent Me. I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.”

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Monday, 29 April 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 113B : 1-2, 3-4, 15-16

Not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory, for the sake of Your love and faithfulness. Why should the pagans say, “Where is their God?”

There in heaven is our God; whatever He wishes, He does. Not so the hand-made idols, crafted in silver and gold.

May you be blessed by the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. Heaven belongs to the Lord, but the earth He has given to humans.

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Monday, 29 April 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 14 : 5-18

A move was made by pagans and Jews, together with their leaders, to harm the Apostles and to stone them. But Paul and Barnabas learnt of this and fled to Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside, where they continued preaching the Good News.

Paul and Barnabas spent a fairly long time at Lystra. There was a crippled man in Lystra who had never been able to stand or walk. One day, as he was listening to the preaching, Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved. So he spoke to him in a loud voice, “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to stand up on your feet!” And the man stood up and began to walk around.

When the people saw what Paul had done, they cried out in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come to us in human likeness!” They named Barnabas Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Even the priest of the Temple of Zeus, which stood outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gate; together with the people, he wanted to offer sacrifice to them.

When Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garment to show their indignation and rushed into the crowd, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are human beings with the same weakness you have and we are now telling you to turn away from these useless things to the living God Who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them.”

“In past generations He allowed each nation to go its own way, though He never stopped making Himself known; for He is continually doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, providing you with food and filling your hearts with gladness.”

Even these words could hardly keep the crowd from offering sacrifice to them.

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Saturday, 29 April 2023 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are called to remain firm in our faith as Christians, as those who have been called by the Lord and responded with faith, to follow Him in all things. We are called and reminded to stay by His side no matter what challenges and trials may come our way, just as many of our predecessors can attest to God’s loving providence and His constant presence in their lives and works. We should continue to strive to live our lives worthily as Christians, doing whatever we can in order to proclaim the Risen Lord in our communities and among those whom we encounter daily and regularly in our lives and ministry. As Christians, we are expected to uphold all of our tenets and beliefs, faithfully and sincerely in our every day moments and lives, and to be exemplary in our actions and way of life.

In our first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the works of the Apostles, especially that of St. Peter who went from place to place, ministering to the people of God and proclaiming His truth and Good News, speaking to many who were convinced by him to become disciples and followers of the Lord. After the conversion of Saul, who became St. Paul the Apostle, the early Church as mentioned, had reprieve and moment of calm between the persecutions, and the Church rapidly grew as the disciples of the Lord, the missionaries and the faithful went on great journeys and missionary works, spreading the Good News of the Gospels to more and more of the people, to the people in the Jewish diaspora and to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people alike. More and more people turned to the Lord and believed in His words, thanks to the dedication of the Apostles and the others who had given their all to the service of God.

For example, as we heard from the actions of St. Peter, we heard how he helped and ministered to the sick and the dying in the community, as he performed many miracles just like how the Lord used to do when He was still around. This authority and power has been given to St. Peter, to the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord from God Himself, through which God showed forth His might and power, the truth of His words and everything that the Church has proclaimed in His Name. St. Peter healed the paralysed man Aeneas in the Name of the Lord, brought Tabitha, the faithful old woman and servant of God, back to life after a period of illness, and everyone who witnessed all these works, and the dedication which St. Peter had shown must have been really impressed by what they had heard, experienced and seen.

St. Peter and the other disciples of the Lord were proclaiming essentially what the Lord Himself had told His disciples, followers and all the people in our Gospel passage today. Today is the culmination and end of the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse by the Lord in which the Lord Jesus referred to Himself specifically as the Living Bread from Heaven, by which all the life originated from, and without Him, there can be no true life and existence. He spoke of how all those who partake, eat, drink and share from His Body and Blood will live forever, and that He would give Himself to those who believe in Him, being broken and offered on the Altar of His Cross at Calvary, His Precious Body crushed and broken for us, and His Precious Blood poured out and shared for us to drink, coming down from His Cross, as the manifestation of God’s ever enduring love and compassion towards us.

Thus, St. Peter and all the other disciples were proclaiming to the whole world of the Good News that Christ our Lord, Who has risen triumphantly from the dead, has indeed fulfilled everything that He has promised to them, and fulfilled all that God has promised to mankind since the beginning of time. The Lord has not abandoned us or cast us out from the promises He has made, but have again and again reaffirmed His love and kindness towards us, patiently showing us and guiding us the way towards Him. And although we have repeatedly disobeyed Him, stubbornly resisting and rejecting Him, committing sin one after another against Him, but the Lord still patiently desired us to be reconciled to Him, that we may find our way back to Him, be reconciled and reunited fully with Him, and that we may once again enjoy the fullness of His love and grace.

This, brothers and sisters in Christ, is what all of us as Christians are reminded of, the love of God that has been most wonderfully shown to us through His beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Each and every one of us have received the fullness of God’s love manifested before us in the flesh, in the Holy Eucharist that we partake, that is our Lord’s own Most Precious Body and Blood, that we share among us, as members of the same Church of God, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We believe that what we partake is no mere bread and wine but the bread and wine had been completely and wholly transformed into the essence, reality, substance and matter of Our Lord’s Body and Blood. The same Most Precious Body and Blood we have received in the Eucharist is the same Body and Blood of the Lamb of God broken and sacrificed on the Altar of the Cross at Calvary.

As Christians, we believe in this truth and fact, but as we heard in our Gospel passage today, many of the Lord’s disciples and followers left Him behind once He told them about this truth, how He would give them His own Body and Blood to partake. The disciples themselves groaned and complained that this truth was too hard and too difficult for people to accept. However, although many of the Lord’s disciples and followers left Him, His closest collaborators and disciples stayed by His side despite all the discomfort and uneasiness surrounding His revelation of the truth to the people. The Lord Himself also predicted His own suffering, persecution and death to His disciples, which must have also been difficult for quite a few among them to accept or understand, but those who have kept their faith in the Lord shouldered on and kept on going, and remained faithful to Him. Those were the same ones who began the expansion and growth of the Church, led by St. Peter and the other Apostles.

Therefore, we should follow the good examples of the Apostles and the many other saints, holy men and women of God, including that of St. Catherine of Siena, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Catherine of Siena was known for her great piety and dedication to God, in her holy way of life, in her commitment to live a holy and devout life aligned with God and His Law and commandments. She refused the efforts of her parents to marry her off to a man who was her elder sister’s widower. She spent her time fasting and keeping herself pure despite the efforts of those around her to make her to do otherwise. She dedicated herself to the Lord completely, and offered herself as a perpetual Virgin consecrated to God. Her great piety and dedication to God inspired many others to follow her inspiration and examples, and her great intellect and ability to connect to various peoples of different origins led her to be involved in many of the political discussions and struggles during her time.

St. Catherine of Siena was well-known for her involvement amidst the often politically tense situations in the region, acting as peacemaker and bridge builder in connecting the rivals and the conflicting parties. She was even involved in the efforts and was instrumental in bringing the Pope back to Rome after having reigned from the enclave in Avignon for many decades. She helped other parties to work together towards peaceful solutions amidst their conflicts, among many other efforts that she had done. St. Catherine of Siena was also known for her many letters and writings, which influenced many people after her time, and her great and exemplary faith became inspiration for many others as well, inspiring many of the people of God to follow Him more faithfully and to carry out the similar works as what this great and holy woman of God had done.

May the Risen Lord, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to be with us and guide us always, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us so that we may persevere faithfully and continue to commit ourselves to His path, much as how our early Christian predecessors had done, in their missionary and evangelising zeal. May all of us be drawn to love the Lord more and to dedicate ourselves to a holy life and existence much as St. Catherine of Siena has shown us with her great and exemplary life. May God be with His Church always, and bless its every works and good efforts. Amen.

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Saturday, 29 April 2023 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 60-69

At that time, after the Jews heard Jesus, many of His followers said, “This language is very hard! Who can accept it?”

Jesus was aware that His disciples were murmuring about this, and so He said to them, “Does this offend you? Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, not the flesh. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”

From the beginning, Jesus knew who would betray Him. So He added, “As I have told you, no one can come to Me unless it is granted by the Father.” After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed Him. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Will you also go away?

Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We now believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”