Patristic A.D. 407
“(Hom. 55. in Matt.) Now the Saviour of His great mercy and lovingkindness will have no one serve Him unwillingly and from constraint, but those only who come of their own accord, and are grateful for being allowed to serve Him. And so not by compelling men and putting a yoke upon them, but by persuasion and kindness, He draws unto Him every where those who are willing, saying, If any man will, &c.”
Catena Aurea: Gospel of Luke, as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on Luke 9:23-27
PD · J. H. Newman (Oxford, 1843) ↗