I am remembering a homily given years ago by a priest friend of mine.  It went something like this.  He and some other priests had moved into a new place together shortly before Christmas. They wanted to put up a Christmas tree, but none of them had ornaments, so they purchased new ones.  It turned out to be a beautiful tree.   On Christmas day, this priest went home to visit his parents and noticed the family Christmas tree, replete with the ornaments they had used all through the years.  Some were quite simple, others were those he had made in school and given to his parents, while others just had so many memories attached to them.  He could look at each ornament with such fondness because of the history behind it, yet this tree was in no way as “beautiful” or perfect as the new one at his home with the other priests. In his homily the priest went on to say that we are the ornaments on God’s Christmas tree and that He looks at each one of us with love and fondness.  We, all together, do not make a “beautiful” tree, but we make up God’s Christmas tree which He loves.