When our Lord addressed these and similar words to the Jews, he was contradicted and attacked by his hearers. They said, he is a Samaritan, he has a devil. In today's Gospel, on the contrary, it is recorded that after our Lord had miraculously fed the crowd with five loaves and two fishes, he was surrounded by the Jews who were enraptured with the great miracle, and they said: ‘This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world'.

It has seemed to us opportune to speak briefly of that light which our Lord claimed to be. That light has enlightened all created lights. The sun, moon, stars, man's bodily senses, the intellectual light of reasonable creatures, in other words reason and intelligence draw their brilliance from it; by that light, all creatures are led and brought back to their origin. And if they did not. return to it, considered on their own without this true and essential light, they would assuredly be but thick darkness. Again our Lord said to every faithful soul: Give up your own light for my sake; compared to my light it is but darkness, the very opposite of my splendour.