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Christmas is first and foremost the anniversary of the birth of the Christ. Over the centuries this feast has accumulated customs and rituals that have arguably made it the most renowned celebration on the planet. There is the Christmas ritual of exchanging gifts, the singing of carols at a Midnight Mass, and the sharing of a festive Christmas dinner. But somehow the Christmas ritual that seems to be the most treasured is the ritual of coming home. It’s a ritual that attempts to banish loneliness. It’s about belonging. It’s about being part of something bigger than ourselves.Mary and Joseph are alone in the traditional story of the Birth of the Christ. They need a place to be a new family, and faced with having no room at the inn, they created for themselves a temporary home. Shepherds came to be a part of something bigger than themselves; they saw a star and found in it a sign of a promise, as did the Magi from the East.This ancient story of coming home, of belonging, is remarkable because the details are pieced together by communities a generation or two after the fact. In trying to complete the Jesus story, his followers told of beginnings that fit the person he became. He was a person who always befriended the outcast and the marginalized. He always made the stranger and the alien feel welcome. So it was fitting that he would be remembered by a story of his own humble beginnings.This holiday many will travel miles to be with family. Others will travel in their imaginations to a time and place that holds “home” for them. We recall the new born babe was in need of the warmth and comfort of a home, so we ourselves see the value, the treasure, in family and friends who shelter us, and we would hope the same for all people.There are, however, those whose homecoming is part fantasy, part dream. We hold in our hearts like the comforting stable of Bethlehem our Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq, who may find little welcome or comfort this Christmas. As we do, we recognize that each one of us is called to be accepting and understanding of other’s religious beliefs, so that one’s faith never separates them from a sense of belonging.We remember those who serve our country here and abroad who, in spite of modern technology, are still too far from home on a day like today. We let our thoughts and good wishes embrace with the warmth of Christmas hospitality the sick in hospitals, the elderly in nursing homes, and men and women in prisons. We remember with perhaps pain and regret the alienated son or daughter, the willingly absent parent or loved one. Our prayers and our goodwill can become a virtual home for so many who seek a sense of belonging.And finally, there are those of us who come here to this sacred place because we want to belong to something greater than ourselves. Just as an extended family or a family of friends, we come together as an identifiable community. We come here because it’s the place where we can belong.Dorothy from Kansas followed a yellow brick road that led her to understanding that “there’s no place like home.” Consider this holy place “home”-- never a place where you are judged; never a place where you are isolated because of who you are or what you do. The homeless Mary and Joseph with their divine babe welcomed all who came to their humble make-shift home. That same divine child, grown and now transformed by his free act of love on the cross, welcomes each one of you. He embraces you whether you were here last week, last month or last year, and says “WELCOME HOME!” May this Sacred Feast energize and empower us to be a welcoming family not just on this day but every time we gather here. Begin today to create the habit of making this place home to all who come here. Begin NOW! Embrace one another! Let’s not wait for the ritual rite of peace later in the liturgy. Let’s do it right now and every time we gather here. Welcome one another whether family, friend or stranger. Say WELCOME HOME!