Be Not Afraid of Questions and Doubts

Our world is longing for a Savior. We long for the coming of the Kingdom with weak hands and wobbly knees. Can we see ourselves as the ones who need the help of a divine physician? If there was one take-away from the year of mercy, it is was that God is not ashamed of our feeble and fainthearted efforts. Throughout the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis kept reminding us that God never tires of lifting us up by His saving grace. It is this boundless mercy that manifests the power of God working through our weakness. We have reason to rejoice.

It seems safe to say that, for many of us, the walk in faith has not been marked with joy and singing. More often than not, we can identify with John the Baptist: “Are you really the One?” Sitting in his prison cell, John must have been wracked with the question: “Is this all there is?” While he did not doubt the fidelity of God, you might say, his faith needed a boost. The mercy of God reached out to him and the light of grace shined on his darkness, giving him reason to rejoice. Under the loving gaze of God, the wilderness of his captivity began to blossom abundantly. In the life and ministry of Christ, his feeble and faint heart was encouraged.

I hope you found reassurance in John the Baptist’s question. Think of it this way, if the forerunner of Christ struggled with doubt, we are in good company. There is nothing to be ashamed of when we see our faith getting shaky. Like John the Baptist, we need to utter the questions that trouble our hearts, not avoid them. This theme was taken up by Pope Francis during a recent audience with young people: “We do not need to be afraid of questions and doubts because they are the beginning of a path of knowledge and going deeper; one who does not ask questions cannot progress either in knowledge or in faith.”

It might be good to admit our doubts and try to sit with the ambiguity of faith. Ponder the Shoot that sprouted from the root of Jesse. Ponder the Bread that came down from Heaven. Ponder the Gift that was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. In the midst of darkness and gloom, it is good to ponder the star that led men of old to the Light of the World. The birth of Christ takes faith out of the realms of theory and moves us to perform acts of loving-kindness for others. Using our weak hands and wobbly knees we come into the presence of God and find Him in the faces of those we encounter.

As we deal with our weak hands and wobbly knees of faith, we need to look around and see the signs that the Kingdom is erupting in our midst. Jesus’ words to the disciples of John underscore this. If you look around, you will see the signs of God’s loving-kindness: ´The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Mat. 11:5). Though our hands be weak and our knees wobbly, we can lean on Christ.

He will accompany us. The journey may not be elegant, but the destination is sure – our heavenly homeland. All that God requires from us is that we depend on Him and place our weak hands and wobbly knees at His service. Into a world enveloped in darkness and uncertainty, a light shall shine, the Light of Christ, the Light of the World.

In that light we shall look at each other’s face and see the Face of Christ. In that light, we can lift up our hands and make a joyful noise. In that Light we shall stand up on our wobbly knees and dance. In that Light we can show forth the goodness of our God by showing love and compassion for one another. Let us standup on our wobbly knees and raise our weak hands and prepare the way for our God. We need only ask the Lord to use us as we are, to open the door for His coming. I hope you find this prayer of Thomas Merton an appropriate ending to these reflections.


“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO

I Am Not the Messiah: A Message of John the Baptist for Our Times

This was the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' He declared, he did not deny but declared, 'I am not the Christ.' So they asked, 'Then are you Elijah?' He replied, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' He answered, 'No.' So they said to him, 'Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?' So he said, 'I am, as Isaiah prophesied: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord. Make his paths straight!' Now those who had been sent were Pharisees, and they put this question to him, 'Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the Prophet?' John answered them, 'I baptise with water; but standing among you -- unknown to you-is the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandal.' (John 1: 19-27)

This Gospel passage has elicited a great deal of comment among Biblical scholars. When the Pharisees asked John the Baptist questions, he did not reply in an anticipated way. Who are you? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet?, John answers, “No,” to all of these questions and begins by acknowledging that he is not the Christ. One scholar admonishes each of us to repeat those words of John the Baptist."I am not the Messiah." Try it.. Say it a few times and listen to your voice. It's a good thing to remember, isn't it? "I am not the Messiah."

Now we know John was not the Messiah. But Biblical scholars have done a great job in splitting hairs to explain why John said he was not Elijah or the prophet, when other times in Scripture he is identified as being Elijah or the prophet. Why doesn’t John claim these titles? Is he staying clear of them out of humility? Does he not want to imply that Elijah has been reincarnated in him or some other such thing? We could go on and on discussing this.

But rather than get caught up in the question of how John could be Elijah and not be Elijah, the question begs a deeper message. What is it that we are to be looking for? Where do we expect to find God?

The Lord did not come in a way that made people recognize him. Baby Jesus was not born in a manger with a big sign above it that says, “I am the Christ. Here I am. Look at me.” No, this is not the way of the Lord. God does not want to turn us into Mr. Roboto Christians who say, “I see. I do. I believe,” because God has pointed Himself out, told us our marching orders, and now expects us to fall in step.

No. Jesus wants us to watch, to see with our eyes, and to come to a belief with our hearts. He does not wish to spoon feed us. We are convicted not because of what we see but because of what we believe through what we see. We are converted by seeing evidence of God around us.

God invites us into the experience of God, by being with him, seeing him, finding him, and then becoming converted. So often we want to know who someone is but we do not listen to what they say. What caption, what label, what stereotype can we put on this person? We ask this instead of listening to what the person is saying. People want the easy way out, by judging people and what they are going to do or what they expect them to say. And this judging and anticipation does not get to the heart or soul of the person. We become obsessed with words and distractions. God wants us to meditate on the words and to look past the distractions. He does not point himself out to us in a way that we might know him like a big neon sign that tells us a greasy spoon restaurant is in that building over there. No, God does not do that. We must be ready and watchful for much more subtle signs of him, not only in the time of John the Baptist but also now.

John the Baptist called the people to look at the signs and to see that something special was there. He wanted them to watch for the experience of God in their lives and to be ready to respond to his message. We have this opportunity continually, in the Eucharist, in others, in our experiences, and in the world around us. We must try not to look for signs in the sky but have a true spirit of openness and gratitude so that we can recognize the Lord when he comes in our ordinary lives.

--Father Jacob Meyer

How a Catholic Family Can Prepare for Christmas

Families start to prepare for Christmas at Thanksgiving. Maybe before Thanksgiving. This year I went home for Thanksgiving. And priests do this kind of musical chairs thing. We all kind of move around and take care of each other’s parishes so we can get home and see each our families on the holidays. So I was saying Mass at the parish where my parents live when I went home for Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving night I got an emergency call. This is not uncommon.

We get these calls where we have to go to the hospital and give someone the last rites. No big deal. I am used to going out at 3 o’clock in the morning to do this. A lot of people think that we would be tired, but we’re not tired. The Lord is really good. He gives us the grace, we get the call, and off we go. When He calls, we’re ready. Normally, this is not an issue in the middle the night. So I’m in my car at 3 AM on the way to the hospital and I am saying to myself, “Where did all this traffic come from? This is the day after Thanks . . . OOOH!” There were literally lines at all the lights and all of them heading to the mall. And I was feeling so profoundly grateful that I was not among them. I was so thankful to the Lord because I was on a hospital run. I was absolutely flabbergasted that there were this many people out at this time of the morning to go shopping. And I was very profoundly thankful because, while the world moves in a certain motion, my life is so different.

It takes the radio, it takes TV, it takes getting up at 3 AM on Black Friday morning to make me recognize the pattern the world undertakes. And I am so thankful for that because all of us Christians are called to live lives radically different from the world, to set our priorities different. Now I am not saying that all those people who got up at some ungodly hour to go shopping were sinning. I can say I think you are nuts, but you were not necessarily sinning. Necessarily. 

In Advent we are all called to set ourselves apart. The world is in the commercial Christmas mode during Advent. Christmas music is playing. Everything is starting. Shopping is ramped up. Everything is going into Christmas mania. But the Church, and God through the Church, is asking you to draw back. To draw back before we go and get sucked into the culture and sucked into all of the things that are, in a sense, good things. Before that happens, the Lord wants us to remember first the ultimate thing. When Christ came thousands of years ago to save us, he came as a little child. But there is an equal reality that he will indeed come again. And when he comes again, he will not come as a little child. He will come as Lord and Savior and judge.

One of the readings in Advent says this.

I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.” Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys; I will turn the desert into a marshland, and the dry ground into springs of water. I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, that all may see and know,
observe and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isaiah 41: 13-20)

Did you hear this? "O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel." That is quite a shocker, isn’t it? Man! Harsh words from the Lord! That is gross. Yuck. What is the Lord trying to say? Doesn't the Lord like Israel anymore? No! It's not that the Lord doesn't like Israel anymore. What he is saying is, “Wake up, Israel! You are nothing without me. Without me, you are not the chosen people. Without me, you will have no good things in your life. Without me, you can do nothing. You are as helpless as a maggot. You are as weak as a worm.” 

And that is a message for us today, that without God we can do nothing, but with God everything is possible. You hear that in this passage. "The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them." They can't  get water themselves. God will give it to them.

Now in this reading, God does not stop there. He goes on to talk about all these different kinds of trees. And what is the deal with all of those trees? Listen again. " I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive; I will set in the wasteland the cypress, together with the plane tree and the pine, that all may see and know, observe and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it." He was saying that he is going to plant those trees in places where they ought not to be able to to grow, but he is going to grow them because he is the Lord God and anything is possible. That is the number one thing we need to remember from this passage. Without God we are nothing. Without God, I am just Jacob Meyer. Poor little Jacob Meyer. I am nothing. Without God, where is my hope? Without God, where is where is my strength? Without God, where is my best friend who is always there for me? Without God, we are all no better than maggots. 

But we all sometimes live our lives as if God does not matter. We live our lives as if God is not a part of them. There are days when we wake up and we live our day and we go to bed and we never even think of God and how he loves us, how he sustains us in our day. What the Lord is saying is that is the greatest tragedy--to go a single day without thinking about God and about how much he loves you. For you to go a single day without asking him for help--that is a tragedy. Because he is there and is waiting to hear from you. We have to love him. We have to ask him. 

Whoever has ears ought to hear, says the Gospel. The Gospel says that John the Baptist is Elijah, the one coming into the world who will prepare the way for the Lord. Everyone who has ears ought to hear. Does anyone not have ears here? No one is earless this morning. Which means you want to hear. Which means you want to listen and pay attention.  John the Baptist came into this world and he said to prepare the way of the Lord. The ultimate thing is that the Lord came and we need him because without him, we are nothing.

When Christ came thousands of years ago to save us, he came as a little child. But there is an equal reality that he will indeed come again. And when he comes again, he will not come as a little child. He will come as Lord and Savior and judge. And we need to prepare for him.

So what are you doing to prepare the way of the Lord? What are you doing? Hopefully you are praying more. Hopefully you are going to go to confession. Clean up the soul. Make ready the path for God. Ultimately how about being an instrument of peace. Is this is a stressful time right now? Kids have tests before Christmas break. Teachers are trying to get caught up on school work. Kids have their mothers at them for cleaning the house because company is coming over. You got Christmas parties. You gotta get ready for Christmas. You got all these different things to do. You got to bake or help bake Christmas cookies but you are not allowed to eat them yet, Oh, the injustice!

All these things you have to do. But do not forget that in the midst of doing all these things, there are more important things. What is the state of your soul right now? What is the state of your heart right now? In all of that stress, are you going to be an instrument of peace? Or you going to be an instrument of consternation? You have a choice, don't you? If you are a kid, you can be the kid who is trying to be peaceable with your siblings, who is trying to be kind and generous and faithful and good. Or you can be a hellion. "No, that is my Xbox! No, it's mine!" And then what? Your parents have to get involved. Kids, think about your parents. Will you do this for me because I have all these other things going on? Will you do the dishes and take out the trash? Kids, are you going to say yes enthusiastically and go do it or you going to give mom a hard time? These are your choices. 

Prepare the way of the Lord. Do not put obstacles in the Lord’s path. Try kindness, generosity, charity. Try to bring calm and peace among the siblings. Try to be that wonder kid toward your parents. It will go well for you. Because the happier your parents are, the better Christmas will be. And you know that that is true. You have a vested interest in this, my friends. A vested interest and ultimately, it is your choice. Because without God we are not nothing. But with him we are the most blessed of all peoples.

We are called to think about this reality during Advent. We have work to do. God became a little baby at Christmas to start the work, and it is only finished through each of us. For each of us, our salvation began at the Incarnation, but for each of us it will not end until we become clay in the hands of the Potter, until we make ourselves moldable so that the Lord can make us into what He wants us to be. Just think about it right now. Parents, you are all transforming all of your worlds and your homes to look like little Christmas Wonderland’s. There are utterly insane lights going up at all angles on every building. You are climbing on ladders to transform the present landscape into something that is magnificent. The Lord wishes is to do the very same thing in our lives. He wishes to mold us. He wishes to enlighten our lives to change so that we might be the creation that He calls us to be.

We need to be a watchful people, be ready for when He comes again. How do we get ready? How do we become watchful? Many of you have had times in your life when you are trying to stay awake. Little kids, maybe it is when you are waiting for Santa. For us older people, it might be many different things. Maybe it is waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve. Whatever it is, we were trying to stay awake. If you are trying to stay awake, you gotta have a game plan. You need coffee. Mountain Dew. You need an uncomfortable chair. You need anything but your bed because if you go about the things that you normally would, you become comfortable and the natural things of the world take over and you fall asleep. 

Similarly if we are to watch for Christ, we must do things out of the ordinary to keep ourselves awake. What are those things that are out of the ordinary? Fasting. Prayer. Now this is going to make teenagers very nervous. I think the one thing you need to do to be watchful and ready is to have a blackout on TV and your phones. There is nothing that will change the regular pattern of your life like that. These things have become surgically attached to us so that we do not know ourselves without them. They are like our new puppy that we take everywhere with us. How many times do you check CNN? 14 a day at least. There should be a blackout on this. Your family can decide what the blackout time is. Mom, collect the phones, turn off the TV. I don’t particularly care what you do at that point. I would love it if you spent that time in prayer, but you are probably not going to spend all the time in prayer. But even if you have a short prayer to begin it and then you just go about your time with a greater sense of contemplation, with just a sense of silence, you will have created moments when you can be clay in the Potter’s hands. We need to give God a chance to work on us, to show us where to go. 

We pray the Our Father often, at Mass every Sunday at least but, hopefully, every day. And we pray “Thy Kingdom come.” We are anticipating the second coming of Christ. We are praying for the second coming. Or do we say, “Thy Kingdom come but not today?” Or “Thy Kingdom come but just not yet. I’m having too much fun.”

Do you mean “Thy Kingdom come?” Are you alert? Are you awake? Does your heart know that someday you will meet your Savior and your judge? So here is what to do. Blackout your TV and phones and schedule your confession time. Today. Today schedule it. You are going to go to confession to make your heart ready to receive the Lord. And from now until Christmas, set aside a time every single day when you can have personal prayer. Maybe a set blackout time. Maybe not. This does not have to be long. From now until Christmas, set a specific time each day when you can pray, “Lord help me get ready. Lord, help me to be more faithful. Lord, help me be vigilant.” Then as the world continues around you, as the world becomes like 3 AM on Black Friday morning, you can have that understanding that this world is not what I was made for. I have a Savior who loves me so much that, not only does He love me, but He will come to take me with Him, and when that happens I want to be ready. 

--Father Jacob Meyer, Visitor, Confraternity of Penitents