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Back in 14^th century Persia (Iran today), there was a famous poet named Hafiz. Not only was he a poet, but he was also a very well-respected man because of his wisdom. Although he lived 700 years ago, his poetry has once again become popular. This is my favorite Hafiz poem, and it reminds me of John the Baptist who is perishing in prison. It reminds me even more of Jesus, the liberator of everything that imprisons us.  It goes like this. “The small man builds cages for everyone he knows. While the sage (wise man), who has to duck when the moon is low, keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners.”

John the Baptist is in prison and, from what we heard in today’s gospel story, he’s losing hope.  Jesus is the one dropping keys all night long to John the Baptist, and he continues to drop keys to us.  The first time we meet John the Baptist, he’s not even born.  But that doesn’t stop him from leaping for joy in his mother’s womb.  Even in the womb, John the Baptist senses—as much as an unborn baby can sense—that Jesus is the cause of joy.  But today, we meet John the Baptist who is in prison, a different kind of confinement than his mother’s womb.  He is not leaping for joy, but really struggling to find hope. 

Have you ever felt that you may have hitched your wagon—your hopes in life–to a horse that is going nowhere?  Perhaps you’ve invested a lot of time, money, or energy in a relationship, or in a job, or in a cause that seems to be going nowhere.  John felt that way which prompted him, from prison, to send a message to Jesus asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Now I know it is never a good thing to compare ourselves to others, but I secretly do that with John the Baptist.  If John the Baptist has doubts—this John whom Jesus says is the greatest one born of a woman, this John who doesn’t blow like a reed in the wind but who is a man of integrity—then maybe it is not so bad that I have doubtful moments on my faith journey.  Like John, I need to hear good news happening out there even, and especially on the days where I find it hard to find good news in my own personal life.  Like John, I’m OK as long as it’s happening somewhere.

John might be enclosed in a prison, but he is not closed in on himself. This one whom Jesus calls the messenger is still giving and receiving messages.  From his prison cell, John is still turning his eyes toward the Messiah, still seeking him, still enquiring about him. When John’s disciples return to him and tell him that through this Jesus the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to new life, and the poor have the good news brought to them, it is enough for John to leap for joy for the second time in his life.

John probably knew that he would never be released from prison.  Yet, he felt his life had also served a purpose.  When he received word about what the Messiah was up to, what chains must have fallen away?  What light must have gathered there in his cell?

The story of John in prison draws me, lately, to pray for all those still living in bondage of body or soul or both: those in prison, those in abusive relationships, those working in sweat factories, those living with addictions, and all those who are depressed and bent to the point of being broken.  John challenges me to ask: Whatever my circumstances, how does God call me to live with freedom, with hope, with trust in the One who came to proclaim release to the captives? 

While thinking of forms of bondage, forms of slavery in the outer world, this gospel passage also compels me ask if there are any places of unfreedom within me.  Have I sacrificed my own autonomy for something that looks like safety?  Have I given away my freedom and joy, in such little increments that I hardly notice until they are gone?

When John asked the question, “Are you the one who is to come?” he expected an answer.  In this season of expectation, how might God be asking us to enter into places where others live in bondage and captivity, and to speak the news of liberation there? 

“The small man builds cages for everyone he knows. While the sage, who has to duck when the moon is low, keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners.”

Fr. Phil Mulligan