I am who am, was the sacred name of the Deity pronounced only by the high priest. Jesus takes that. They understand Him perfectly, and prepare to stone Him.

We know. We only said it to vex you a while ago, but now we are convinced of it.

Abraham is dead.-In one of Our Lord's previous discourses in S. Mark xii. 27, He told them that Abraham lived and that God was the God of the living. Of course they forgot this.

Death for ever.-Our Lord's argument was a close one and theirs was a sophism known as ignoratio elenchi.

Whom dost thou make thyself?-This question is very impudent. It is not who art thou? As if He was arrogant.

"It is My Father.-Jesus very mildly reminds them of the attestation which heaven had borne to His claims.

Like to you a liar.-He knew them and could tell them unerringly what they were.

See my day. The accepted interpretation of this is that Abraham saw from limbo, the Day of Our Lord-the Incarnation and the consequences thereof and He lets us know that the events of this world are well known to the Saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory. The parable of Dives would suggest that some things were known in hell also. Many messengers go there daily.

Fifty years old.-One Father makes out that Our Lord was older than the general belief. No one agrees with him.

I AM 77.—This is the JEHOVA or unpronounceable name which it was blasphemy even to utter. Only Our Lord could.

10 Hid Himself.-Rendered Himself invisible. He often did this.

CHAPTER IX.

He gives sight to the man born blind.

Light of the world was a title given to Our Divine Lord, even before he was Shilo or the Sent One. These prophetic figures

are singularly verified in the miracle which our Evangelist records here with such minute care and trouble. With the anagogical and figurative meaning we have not busied ourselves during this brief gloss; but here the thing is unavoidable from the very fact of Our Lord's having gone through so many ceremonies.

The mixture of the spittle and the clay-one substance from above and the other from below-the placing of this upon the eyes to make them seemingly more removed from the light than they were, the act of obedience, the washing and the giving of sight, are works which the Light of the World did.

He came from heaven, took human nature, instead of leading us on to Truth in a grand martial procession, He let Himself be conducted to death and seeming extinction. Bathed in His blood-the Blood of the Sent One-He gave light and opened the eyes of the world to His sanctity and His mission.

That Blood still opens the eyes of the soul whether it be applied by the mystic rite of Baptism, in the Sacrament of Penance, or still better in the Sacrament of the Altar. It would. be sheer stupidity to pass by so notable an act without seeing at least this much of its significance.

There are four more notable things in this miracle. The pool or fount was one which started miraculously at the prayer of Isaias and flowed only on the Sabbath (or at least, more abundantly then, because the Jews did not draw water from it) but had no curative powers, as far as the accounts of Epiphanius, Jerome and Josephus enlighten us. To this pool Our Lord sent the blind man, and on the Sabbath also.

He abolished the belief which then prevailed among the more learned of the Jews regarding metempsychosis. How could a man sin before his birth on any other supposition? The question of the disciples could not refer to original sin, as in that case all men should be born blind. That the transmigration of souls was then held as a theory is attested by several writers, of whom Calmet gives a list, with extracts from their works.

The third notable thing was that Our Lord was pleased to confer miraculous healing powers upon fountains. He showed that a reverence for sanctuaries where He chooses to grant His favours is not a superstitious thing but a veritable truth laid down by Himself.

Lastly, the ceremonies He went through, which we all know were not necessary, show us that so far from condemning outward religion, which manifests itself in ceremonies, rubrics, and pilgrimages, He even instituted them Himself and left us to follow His example.

This lesson has never been lost upon the faithful. In every age of the Church, even in our own day, places-mostly the deserted and neglected spots-have had apparitions or supernatural blessings conferred on them. The people reverence these; and the devotion thus generated is healthy and pure. At all events, it makes people better and holier, and confers favours as well.

One remarkable thing about sanctuaries is that they do not always continue to be places of blessings. The solution of the difficulty is very simple. In course of time, frauds are committed in them, unholy deeds are done in them, and God withdraws His favours from them. Jerusalem itself would not be spared after unholy feet had trod its streets and crimes had crimsoned its history.

1Passing by. When on His way to Mount Olivet at the close of His day's teaching.

2His disciples.-These were not the same as the Apostles, although the Apostles were also disciples.

3This man. The proleptic theory that he was made blind for fear of committing a sin by his eyes, and because of a sin which God foresaw he would and did commit-is relegated to the limbo of vain curiosities.

4Works of God.-He was not kept blind all his life in order that this miracle might be done; but that other works of God could be manifested. We find him bearding the Sanhedrim and becoming one of the first confessors of Our Lord's Divinity.

Day. Our Lord again alludes to His short stay in this world and exhorts others to make a good use of their time.

The light of the world.-This has been explained.

"Made clay of the spittle.-With some dust and it, He made a sort of mud or mortar.

Go, wash.-The Mahommedans to this day, appreciate the waters of this fountain. The miracle seems to have blessed the spot.

Came seeing.-S. John speaks as a witness.

Our Lord passed on whilst the miracle was being performed. The neighbours and those who knew the poor beggar man