Most people who enter an active field of work, after a prolonged period of theoretical study and even stimulated practice will vouch for the fact that the actual task itself is nothing compared to what they've been preparing themselves for all along. No soldier would say that actual war and killing is the same as all the drill and practice they've had before hand. No matter how many years a medical student practices his or her medicine, the first surgery is always different. One may participate in a holy Mass all ones life, yet celebrating the first Mass as a priest is a totally different experience altogether. Nothing ever prepares one for reality. Meeting reality in its crude and actual form is much more than all that one undergoes in order to prepare one when one encounters it.
John the Baptist was born in order to prepare for the Lord. He himself knew this all too well and did a great job. Yet when the Lord himself appeared on the scene, John was not sure if He was the Messiah. So he sends out his disciples to ask Jesus directly if he is the messiah. After all those years of being and doing what he was doing, even John the Baptist was not 100% sure when he met Jesus. The same as any army personnel or a surgeon or a newly ordained priest. There is something more than the sum of all preparation that eludes one when one encounters the actual reality. That first or actual encounter is lesson in its own right.
So I ask myself, if John the Baptist whose mission was to prepare the way, did not instantly recognise the messiah, what chance do I have of recognising or identifying - leave alone worshipping - Him? One way it is to be always ready, and treat everyone as the messiah. A perpetual advent! Another way would be to ask the Lord himself!!
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