The main person for us during the time of Advent is John the Baptist. In a homily, Pope Francis summed up the vocation of John the Baptist in three key words: “Prepare, discern and diminish.“ Why does the Pope say we also need to diminish ourselves?
“John was a man who prepared the way for Jesus without taking any of the glory for himself. … When asked if he was the Messiah, John replied that he was just “a voice” who had come “to prepare the way of the Lord.”
The second vocation of John the Baptist was to discern, among so many good people, who was the true Messiah. When John saw Jesus passing by, he said to the disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
The third vocation of John the Baptist is to diminish himself so that the Lord may grow in the hearts of others.
… As Christians we too must prepare the way of the Lord, we must discern the truth and we must diminish ourselves so that the Lord can grow in our hearts and in the souls of others. “
Homily, Santa Marta Chapel June 24, 2014
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/06/24/pope_calls_john_the_baptist_a_model_for_christians_today/1102114