St. John the Baptist is someone who quickly took center stage and enjoyed a fair measure of success as a preacher, to the point where people began to wonder whether he was the Christ. John was a success but he knew his limitations. If you are looking forward to Christmas, full of expectancy, then you have captured the mood of today. The Church wants us to get everything into perspective: both our understanding of the unfolding story of God’s saving presence in Jesus and the part we are called to play in that story. It did not finish with the writing of the Gospels and the letters of St. Paul. It continues to be written in your life and mine. We do have every reason to be happy. We have a great feast to celebrate. So we can enjoy the party now and remember that we are all invited to a heavenly banquet too.