For us in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas is a midwinter feast, a time when the days grow a little longer and light and warmth return slowly. For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere, however, it is the beginning of summer.
School is over.
It marks not the shortest day of the year but the longest. The festival easily fits into either paradigm because it is so rich in its symbolism. Moreover, no matter where we celebrate the festival, we can find new meaning in it. Then so did the Holy Family. So did all the angels gather round the stable in Bethlehem and make it their home.