The Manger, Now with Baby Jesus Lying There

Today is the feast of Stephen. I chose this great saint and first martyr of the Church to be my patron at my Confirmation. So, that makes it my feast day as well. This morning I went down to the Church of the Nativity to see if maybe things would be a little quieter and I could pray. As I walked down to the Church I could tell that all the people of the last few days were gone and things were already back to normal. I was able to go down in the grotto of the church and sit next to the manger for a few hours and pray. They have placed a statue of the infant Jesus lying in a crib in the manger now. There were a few groups of pilgrims that came through while I was there it is often moving to see the great faith of the people that come. I was particularly taken by a couple groups of families from Korea. The father gathered all the children together with his wife and they all prayed together at the manger. There were also many more small children coming today and it was neat when the little kids would climb up into the manger to see the Baby Jesus.

 
Baby Jesus in the Manger

As I prayed this morning, my thoughts again returned to the shepherds, the first visitors to the manger. After receiving the message of the angel they had to go search and find the Christ child. What joy they would have experienced when they finally arrived at the cave and found the Holy Family. I was reminded of my own search and desire to find Jesus. For a while this morning I was able to share in the joy of the shepherds as I sat there and contemplated the miraculous things that took place here. The shepherds left the cave full of joy and wanted to go and tell everyone what they had seen. Their message has gone to the ends of the world now. This morning, following in the footsteps of those first humble shepherds, I and many others came to see the place where the Child was laid. Praise God for the wonderful Christmas gift of His Son.

St. Catherine’s Church Decorated for Christmas

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Today, in the City of David, a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11)

Today was a very special day in Bethlehem. Christmas began with Midnight Mass followed by a wonderful reception with the Christian Brothers and the local community at Bethlehem University. We had a very nice mix of traditional English carols as well as some Arabic ones that I’ve become rather fond of now. After sleeping for most of the morning I made my way down to Manger Square. I was able to get into the grotto in the Church of the Nativity and kiss the star where Jesus was born. It was a little hard to envision the quietness of that first Christmas with all the people that were crowding into the cave, but it was still an amazing experience to be there at “ground zero” on Christmas Day.

Midnight Mass with the Papal Nuncio at Bethlehem University

As I walked the streets of Bethlehem today there were many more people out and about. It was nice to finally see a change from the normal day to day experience of Bethlehem that I’ve grown so used to in the past month. I have been waiting and waiting for “all the pilgrims” to show up. I even did my Christmas shopping early last week to “beat the rush.” However, it is somewhat sad to report that almost no tourists came. The local merchants were hoping for around 10,000, with that even being way down from previous years. However, as I walk the streets, I have seen almost no European looking faces. There were definitely more people in town yesterday and today, but they were all locals from right around Bethlehem.

You would think that Bethlehem would be the place to be on Christmas, but I think the fighting this summer caused a lot of people to stay away. One shopkeeper said that there were more Christmas lights hung this year than he can remember and yet he was very sad because no one came. I bought some nice little olive wood sculptures from some of the local Christian stores as my own kind of Christmas present to them, but it’s clear that the joy of Christmas is a bit subdued for many of the people here. It’s sad to say that the message of peace announced by the angels 2000 years ago is not at all the daily experience of people here in the Holy Land.

The Crowded Streets of Bethlehem on Christmas Day

On a more positive note, we all got invited by a local family here to have Christmas dinner at their restaurant. It turns out that this is one of the best restaurants in Bethlehem and we had a magnificent traditional Palestinian Christmas dinner. Everyone was in such good spirits and we had a wonderful celebration. I do have to say that I found myself looking at my watch from time to time throughout the day and was thinking about what was going on back home. I thought of my family gathered on Christmas morning and the big gathering at Grandma’s house. I’ve never spent a Christmas away from Kansas and things definitely felt different this year. Yet, this was a very special Christmas and one that I will never forget.

Now, don’t forget that Christmas just started! Despite the fact that I’m sure the stores back home are getting out their Valentine’s Day candy and your neighbors threw their Christmas tree to the curb already this evening, don’t you do the same. The Advent time of waiting and expectation is over and now it’s finally time to really celebrate the season of Christmas. I will be celebrating here in Bethlehem.

Here, of the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ was Born
Come Let us Adore Him

Melkite Church Where We Had Mass This Morning

The sun is setting here in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve and there’s a great sense of anticipation. There were many people out and about in the street today. Most of the excitement surrounded the arrival of a certain you know who all dressed in red. That’s right, the Patriarch has come to town. His Beatitude Michael arrived just this afternoon in preparation for Midnight Mass tonight. The Patriarch of Jerusalem is the Catholic Archbishop of what is basically the Holy Land. It was really something to behold. There was a big parade with many of the local scout troops playing drums and bagpipes and marching in procession. I enjoyed seeing the scouts from all over. We heard them practicing all week. I almost wanted to put on my uniform and join in.

Parade for the Arrival of the Patriarch

The Patriarch will be the celebrant tonight at St. Catherine’s (The Church of the Nativity is Greek Orthodox and it’s not Christmas yet for them…long story…tell you later). Unfortunately the Mass at St. Catherine’s, which is at Manger Square, is for ticket-holders only and you basically have to be a major political dignitary to get in. Everyone else just gets to stand in the square. So, instead of standing there without getting to go to Mass we will be having Mass in English with the Papal Nuncio at Bethlehem University. I and some of the other seminarians will be singing in the choir and it should be very lovely. Then, tomorrow morning we will go and have Mass down in the grotto where Jesus was born. It is really quite a priviledge to be in this holy place at this special time of year. This will be a Christmas that I will not soon forget and hopefully one that I will be able to share in many Christmas homilies to come. May the peace of Christmas come to the Holy Land and to you and your famlies this Christmas night.

The Patriarch Arrives in Bethlehem
(He Really is in the Car…I Saw Him)

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Today I noticed that they are starting to “decorate” the city for Christmas. I’ll hold off on the pictures until they finish whatever they’re doing, but they are hanging lights in trees and such. I’ve even seen some Santa Clause statues. They very much try to make the westerners feel welcome for Christmas. We did actually get an artificial tree for our residence where we’re staying. So, I guess you’d say it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Bethlehem.

Tomorrow we are heading to Galilee for three days to visit Nazareth, Cana, Mt. Carmel and a few other places. I don’t know what the internet situation will be there, so you may not get an update until we get back on Tuesday. We’ll be going to Galilee for three more days later on, but it will be nice to able to visit the Church of the Annunciation in preparation for Christmas. This has been the greatest Advent ever. I should definitely feel prepared to celebrate our savior’s birth this year. It will be interesting to see how many more pilgrims will have arrived this week. They are hoping for a lot here and we will do our part in celebrating. Now, I’m off to dinner and I’m going to try to do better than the Blues Brothers this time. You are in my prayers.