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Last Sunday we were introduced to John the Baptist through Matthew’s gospel and his description of how John was baptizing any-and-all comers in the river Jordan.  In reading Matthew’s description of John, his clothing, his dietary choices and his no nonsense, in-your-face method of bringing people to God, I can see why so many people went to see what all the fuss was about.  I think for many who went to see him, they were already entrenched in their own religion; their own set of beliefs, and I think it was more curiosity than conversion that was enticing them.  I also think we can say that John was both charismatic and captivating to be able to attract so many followers.

Fast forward to our gospel today and we see a different side of John, a side that I think a lot of us can identify with.  He is no longer the brash baptizer questioning people’s motives who have come to see him.  Rather, he is in prison and wondering if he had gotten it all right in the first place.  He proclaimed Jesus’ coming, he made straight his paths, he told the crowds of the one who stands among them how he is even unworthy to carry his sandals, and now he is filled with doubt.  He sends his disciples to question Jesus as to whether he really is the one.  I don’t think when John began his public ministry, he thought it would end with him being imprisoned and his life on the line.  This is far from the anticipated reward and thus, understandably, the doubt that he was ever really on the right track in the first place.  And if John was filled with doubt, then you have to believe his followers were as well.

So, have you ever had doubt creep into your faith journey?  I will leave you to answer that for yourself, but I can tell you that I sure have.  It’s hard not to have doubt when you are trying to answer faith questions with logic.  When you are trying to find scripted, one-line answers to the most open-ended questions you will ever have to answer.  In these times I find solace in Jesus’ answer to John.  He tells him to look at the signs around him, all the wonderful things that are happening and then ask himself the question again.

I am not always great at seeing the things that are right in front of me.  Often, when I can’t find something, my wife has sent me to get, she will tell me to stop looking with my “man eyes”.  I think what Jesus is challenging me to do is to change my focus.  It’s easy to see the negative, the things that aren’t as they should be, the injustice that seems so prevalent, the manipulation of Christmas; and the list goes on; and wonder where the signs are that Jesus has indeed come and is present among us.  

Then you see people doing things for others that don’t make sense.  They are buying coats for children they have never met or will ever meet to make sure they are not cold this winter.  They are donating to food banks so no one goes hungry when they can barely afford food for themselves.  They are donating time they do not have to organizations that serve the “least among us”.  They are housing a strange young couple who are awaiting the birth of a child and not counting the many costs to them.  If you ask these saints who walk among us what their motivation may be for doing this, I think they might say that in serving others they find a joy for themselves.  And what is one of the benchmarks of this season, and particularly this Sunday?  JOY!

At mass on Christmas Eve, we will hear in the reading from Isaiah that the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  Maybe we can be that light for others because you don’t see the light as much as you see by the light.  And perhaps by our light, people will see God incarnate.

Mark Mahoney