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The Winter Solstice, which occurs around December 21st or 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere, marks the shortest day and longest night of the year. This event happens when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the Sun, and the Sun reaches its lowest maximum elevation in the sky.

Key Points About the Winter Solstice:
Astronomical Significance:

It marks the start of astronomical winter in the Northern Hemisphere and astronomical summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
After the solstice, daylight gradually increases until the Summer Solstice in June.
Cultural Celebrations:

Many cultures celebrate the Winter Solstice with festivals and rituals symbolizing rebirth and the return of the Sun.
Examples include:
Yule: A Pagan festival honoring the Sun's return.
Dongzhi Festival: Celebrated in East Asia, focusing on family reunions and eating warming foods like dumplings.
Inti Raymi: In Inca tradition, though celebrated in June in the Southern Hemisphere, it reflects similar reverence for the Sun.
Astronomy Behind It:

It happens when the Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° South latitude).
Earth's axial tilt (23.5°) and orbit around the Sun cause the variation in daylight hours throughout the year.
Symbolism:

It represents hope, renewal, and the promise of longer days ahead, aligning with themes of light overcoming darkness.
Would you like information on how it's celebrated in a specific culture or region?







In the Southern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice for the Northern Hemisphere corresponds to the Summer Solstice, which typically falls around December 21st or 22nd. This marks the longest day and shortest night of the year for those living south of the equator.

Key Points About the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere:
Astronomical Significance:

It marks the beginning of astronomical summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° South latitude).
Daylight:

Locations close to the poles, such as Antarctica, experience 24-hour daylight during this time (a phenomenon known as the Midnight Sun).
Countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and parts of South America enjoy longer days and warmer weather.
Cultural Celebrations:

Many cultures and traditions in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate the summer season rather than the solstice itself.
Examples include:
Christmas in summer: In Australia and New Zealand, Christmas is celebrated during the height of summer, often with beach outings, barbecues, and outdoor festivities.
Indigenous communities may have unique ceremonies or observances connected to the Sun and the changing seasons.
Weather Patterns:

The solstice often aligns with peak summer temperatures in many regions.
However, in areas like the southern tip of South America, weather may still feel relatively cool due to latitude.

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Friday, December 13, 2024
Bishop Robert Barron
Cycle C
Advent
2nd wk of Advent

Topics
Fellowship

Last Supper

Passover

Saints

Saint Lucy

Bible References



Matthew 11:16-19


Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”The Passover meal was decisively important in salvation history. God commands that his people share a meal to remember their liberation from slavery. This supper provides the context for the deepest theologizing of the Israelite community. Both the bitterness of their slavery and the sweetness of their liberation are acted out in this sacred meal.Jesus’ life and ministry can be interpreted in light of this symbol. From the very beginning, Jesus was laid in a manger, for he would be food for a hungry world. Much of Jesus’ public outreach centered on sacred meals, where everyone was invited: rich and poor, saints and sinners, the sick and the outcast. They thought John the Baptist was a weird ascetic, but they called Jesus a glutton and a winebibber. He embodies Yahweh’s desire to eat a convivial meal with his people.And of course, the life and teaching of Jesus comes to a sort of climax at the meal that we call the Last Supper. The Eucharist is what we do in the in-between times, between the death of the Lord and his coming in glory. It is the meal that even now anticipates the perfect meal of fellowship with God.

Gospel Reflections
Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

Thursday, December 12, 2024
Bishop Robert Barron
Cycle C
Feast
Advent
2nd wk of Advent
Our Lady of Guadalupe

Bible References

Luke 1:26-38,
Luke 1:39-47

Friends, today we celebrate the great feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What followed the apparition of Mary at Tepeyac is one of the most astounding chapters in the history of Christian evangelism.

Though Franciscan missionaries had been laboring in Mexico for twenty years, they had made little progress. But within ten years of the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe practically the entire Mexican people, nine million strong, had converted to Christianity. Our Lady of Guadalupe had proved a more effective evangelist than Peter, Paul, St. Patrick, and St. Francis Xavier combined! And with that great national conversion, the Aztec practice of human sacrifice came to an end. She had done battle with fallen spirits and had won a culture-changing victory for the God of love.

The challenge for us who honor her today is to join the same fight. We must announce to our culture today the truth of the God of Israel, the God of Jesus Christ, the God of nonviolence and forgiving love. And we ought, like Our Lady of Guadalupe, to be bearers of Jesus to a world that needs him more than ever.

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Bishop Robert Barron

Cycle C

Advent

2nd wk of Advent

Topics

God's love
Pride

Bible References

Matthew 11:28-30

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus offers to free us from the burden of our pride.

What is it that makes our lives heavy and weighed down? Precisely the burden of our own egos, the weight of one’s own self. When I am puffing myself up with my own self-importance, I’m laboring under all that weight. Jesus is saying, “Become a child. Take that weight off your shoulders and put on the weight of my yoke, the yoke of my obedience to the Father.” 

Anthony de Mello proposed the following parable to describe us prideful souls. A group of people sit on a bus that is passing through the most glorious countryside, but they have the shades pulled down on all the windows and are bickering about who gets front seat on the bus. This is the burden of pride: preferring the narrow and stuffy confines of the bus to the beauty that is effortlessly available all around. This, of course, is why Jesus can say, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” What the Lord proposes is not a freedom from suffering but, what is much more important, a freedom from the self.

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Bishop Robert Barron
Cycle C
Advent
2nd wk of Advent

Bible References

Matthew 18:12-14

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asks: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?” Well, of course not! No self-respecting shepherd would ever think of doing that. If you were a shepherd, you’d cut your losses. That sheep is probably dead anyway if it wandered far enough away.

But we are to understand that God is like that foolish shepherd. God’s love throws caution to the wind to seek out the lost sheep. We might expect God to be good to those who are good, and kind to those who follow his commandments. Those who don’t, who wander away, are simply lost. God might give them a few minutes, but then they’re on their own.

No, God is like this kooky shepherd. God loves irrationally, exuberantly risking it all in order to find the one who wandered away. What good news: God does not love according to a strict justice on our terms but loves in his own extravagant way.

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron

Monday, December 9, 2024

Bishop Robert Barron

Cycle C

Solemnity

Immaculate Conception

Advent

2nd wk of Advent

Topics

AnnunciationBlessed Virgin Mary.Immaculate ConceptionPope Pius IX

Bible References

Luke 1:26-38

Friends, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

In 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception—the truth that Mary, through a special grace, was preserved free from original sin from the first moment of her conception. 

Were this not the case, the angel would not have referred to her at the Annunciation as Kecharitomene (full of grace). Why would God do such a thing? And wouldn’t this imply that Mary does not need to be redeemed? 

The traditional answer is that God wanted to prepare a worthy vessel for the reception of his Word. Just as the Holy of Holies in the temple was kept pure and inviolate, so the definitive Temple, the true Ark of the Covenant, which is Mary herself, should all the more be untrammeled. 

Bl. John Duns Scotus explained that Mary is indeed redeemed by the grace of her Son, but since that grace exists outside of time, it can be applied in a way that transcends the ordinary rhythms of time. Therefore, Mary, by a kind of preemptive strike, was delivered by Christ’s grace from original sin.

Gospel Reflections

Meditate on Daily Gospel Reflections from Bishop Robert Barron