Like the Pharisees we encounter in today’s gospel, we too can have a problem recognizing the Christ who is among us, and whose face we are challenged to behold in one another. However, this difficulty springs largely from our own hearts—both from our failure to discern Christ in the brother/sister we dislike and find difficult, and from the ways our imperfect conversion still clouds and distorts his true image in us, thereby causing us to project that same distorted image onto others. To the degree that we make little, or no, effort to remedy this condition, we risk being what Saint John calls “liars” who through our words and actions deny that Jesus is the Christ whose power sets us free. Conversely, the more we are conformed to Christ, the more we radiate his presence to others, and the easier it becomes for others to recognize his presence in us. Good reason, then, to heed the Baptist’s call and, through sustained conversion to make straight the way of the Lord.