There’s a priest I know who has the habit of one-upping everyone in conversations. If I say, “You know, I try my best to pray a Rosary each day,” he’ll say, “Oh, I pray two Rosaries every day.” Good for you! If you told him you were at the Red Sox game in October, 2013 when they won the World Series at home for the first time in 95 years, and that you had good seats in the grandstands, he’d say, “Yea, I was in the dugout for that game.” Everything a one-upper says has to be taken with a grain of salt. Or an entire barrel of it. It’s hard to figure out what’s true and what isn’t, understanding that more is not true than is. There are many, many parts of the life of John the Baptist to admire and imitate besides eating grasshoppers. From the start, in the holy womb of his mother St. Elizabeth, to violent finish with his head on a platter, John was faithful to his vocation and mission throughout. As Catholics, we are called, even commanded, by the Lord to do the same with the whole of our faith. John the Baptist, outside of Jesus and his holy Mother Mary, was a prophet infused with the virtues of humility and obedience. Not even the Apostles, I believe, lived these virtues to the perfection that John did. He had full understanding of what God sought from him from beginning to end, and had no worldly holes in him looking like a piece of Swiss cheese. John prepared to perfection the way of God’s Son into the start of his public ministry. The Lord welcomes the same from us. That we allow the holiness and beauty of Jesus’ ministry to walk before us in every phase of our lives. But my number one favorite personal characteristic of John is actually a failure on his part. He failed miserably at being a one-upper. John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a spiritual reality that the Israelites of old could have used to save themselves from a ton of justified anger coming down from Mt. Sinai and elsewhere. At their building of a golden calf, bowing down and worshipping before it. Or being sent into the slavery of Babylon for 70 years, asking themselves, ‘God, where are you when we need you?” Repentance on the part of the Israelites for the forgiveness of their grave sins would have avoided untold amounts of misery and heartache they forced themselves into. Our repentance will avoid all those internal struggles we have. John’s message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins would have prevented all that horror for the Desert People of 40 Years. It was the loudest message to come down the pike that begins in heaven. Repent in preparation for God’s arrival. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins is the number one preventative medicine that cures the misery of spiritual illness. John’s message was – and is – the most effective way to be in, and remain in, right relationship with God and each other. The importance of John’s message cannot be overstated for us today. John was in a position better than anyone who made it to adulthood to one-up Jesus. His message of repentance proclaimed even before Jesus appeared at the River was so effective that according to a story in the Acts of the Apostles (Chapter 19), John disciples, many years after the Lord’s resurrection, when encountering St. Paul on one of his missionary journeys, the conversation between them turned to baptism. John’s disciples, years after Jesus ascended, never heard of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, the baptism of Christ that we have all received. They knew only of John’s baptism of repentance. It’s a fascinating story that reveals the lasting effect of John’s preaching. When you leave here today, you’re going to forget what I said. Years later, they remembered his message that carried well into early Christian communities. Despite this, John remained true to his calling and mission. And that’s the message for the 2nd Sunday of Advent in preparation for our Lord’s birth. A central part of our preparation is a self-understanding; that Jesus Christ is the leader, and we follow. Another verse from Acts, chapter 5; “We must obey God and not men.” This verse points to what will bring us to heaven, or what will send us to hell. In today’s world that some call post-Christian, it takes much humility to remain faithful and true to our following, even following the Savior of the world. We look to John the Baptist for the perfect Christian gift we can offer to our Lord; never attempt to one-up God by taking him over. By replacing him with worldly living. Yes, we are his hands, feet, and voices. But always in the context of being servant-followers to Him and each other.