Wracked with doubt, John sent his followers to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah, or if he was just another prophet.
It could surprise us to know that the man who baptized Jesus and called him the Lamb of God experienced this uncertainty, Francis said, noting that “even the greatest believer goes through the tunnel of doubt.”
“And this is not a bad thing; on the contrary, sometimes it is essential for spiritual growth: it helps us understand that God is always greater than we imagine him to be,” he said.
Jesus’ “works are surprising compared to our calculations; his actions are always different, they exceed our needs and expectations; and therefore we must never stop seeking him and converting to his true face.”
The pope pointed to a quote from the French theologian Henri de Lubac, who said God “needs to be rediscovered in stages … sometimes believing that we are losing him.”
This is what John the Baptist did, Pope Francis said: “In doubt, he still seeks him, questions him, ‘argues’ with him and finally rediscovers him.”
“We too at times find ourselves in his situation, in an inner jail, unable to recognize the newness of the Lord, whom we perhaps hold captive in the presumption that we already know everything about him,” he said. “Brothers and sisters, we never know everything about him.”
“May Our Lady take us by the hand, like mom, in these days of preparation for Christmas, and help us recognize in the smallness of the infant, the greatness of God who is coming.”
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