To teach us that believing itself is a gift and not something earned, he says, “As I told you, no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father” (Jn 6:66). If we recall what was written before, we will find where the Lord said this: “No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me pulls him” (Jn 6:44). He doesn’t say, “Unless he leads him,” but “Unless he pulls him.” The violence is done to the heart not to the flesh. Why are you surprised? Believe and you come; love and you are pulled. Don’t think this violence is harsh or unpleasant. It’s pleasant; it’s delightful. The delight itself pulls you. Isn’t a hungry sheep pulled when grass is held out? I don’t think it’s forced bodily; it’s drawn by its desire. So, then, you too, come to Christ. Don’t imagine long journeys. Where you believe, there you have come. To him who is everywhere you come by loving not by sailing. (Sermon 131, 2; PL 38, 730)