Whether you traveled for Christmas or stayed where you live, you might still have at least a little of that cozy, warm, "no place like home for the holidays" mood. No wonder!

In an increasingly cyber-driven and mobile world, the deep feelings of belonging and fellowship stirred by the Christmas season are powerful, as are the cherished, home-based memories made and in the making each year.

But in its most profound sense, "home" really is not tethered to a place or time. Another saying springs to mind, "Home is where the heart is." And, in the heart, home, abiding and strengthening, springs from the gifts of faith and love.

I learned a lot about home while I was growing up and our family moved frequently, sometimes to a new state. Some of the lessons were logistical: How to be organized, alert, adaptable even when I didn't feel like it.

Other lessons were less practical and more internal: Each relocation was emotionally difficult, each time frame for adapting to a new town got longer.

Packing my possessions brought what I now recognize is a sense of mourning. Unpacking was often no easier, but quite bittersweet: Eager anticipation of putting my room back together, but sorrow at what (and who) I left behind.

There always seemed to be something that got lost or broken, too, just as there were good friends where I used to live who gradually dropped out of touch.

But for all the upheaval of moving, and the ongoing resistance I have as an adult to consider doing it again, the spiritual lesson was and continues to be calming and encouraging.

The new parish, for example, might be physically different, but the Mass and sacraments are familiar. Prayer is portable, the liturgical calendar cycle consistent.

Examples from the faith are encouraging, too.

Moses moved an entire people toward the Promised Land, the apostles had no permanent residence as they traveled from town to town to share the Gospel, and Mary and Joseph moved twice in the early days of their marriage and, in both instances, did so under harsh circumstances (Mary was pregnant with Jesus when she and Joseph traveled to be counted in the census, and the looming, dire threat of Herod spurred angels to warn Joseph to immediately flee to Egypt) -- but love and faith never left them.

And the people with whom we have fellowship and serve and all whom we encounter consistently bring us Christ.

As we edge into the uncertainties inherent in a new year, it can be easy for worry or doubt to overshadow the warm feeling of being home for the holidays. With families and friends scattered like never before, and many people moving or anticipating moves, the dread of separation and loneliness can certainly take center stage.

But this is only a part of the experience of moving. The heart of home, faith and love, remain.

Unlike the Christmas tree ornaments or the family Advent wreath that we stow away for another year, home, in its deeper sense of connection with God and loved ones, ourselves and the world, need not disappear with the turn of the calendar.

Treasured like the blessing it is, when we allow the love and belonging that springs from it to inspire our actions throughout the year, the light of home that warmed us in December can be even brighter, leading us and others as surely as the star led the shepherds that Christmas and for all time.

Happy New Year! Welcome home!

Pratt's website is www.maureenpratt.com