Today was both physically and emotionally exhausting. We
began the day by entering Bethlehem. While most of us might only think of
Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus, it is home to a Muslim majority today
with a large Palestinian Christian community. In the UN General Assembly’s 1947
resolution to partition Palestine, Bethlehem was to be included in a special
international enclave governed by the UN, but it was later captured by Jordan
during the Arab-Israeli War, and many refugees who had been captured by Israel
during that war fled to Bethlehem and became Muslims. Jordan retained control
of Bethlehem until Israel captured it in the Six Day war, but then eventually
turned it over to the Palestinian National Authority pursuant to the Oslo Peace
Accord. So, when we drove in into Bethlehem, we had to pass through a
checkpoint surrounded by a huge wall. The Israelis put of the wall for security
reasons, but I got a chance to visit with some of the Palestinian Christians,
and they say that the wall makes them feel like prisoners. They must get
special permission to leave, and that permission is not always granted. While
they say living in Bethlehem is safer that other places (for example, one
resident grew up in Costa Rica, but her father is Arab, so she moved back is
now married to a native of Bethlehem), she says the town goes quiet at 9pm, and
that is often hard. We shopped in a Christian store that sells Jerusalem
crosses, rosaries and many other religious items, and the store supports 26
Christian families.
Throughout the day in Bethlehem, we had many other adults
and children begging us to buy their bags, jewelry, scarves flutes, and
anything else they were selling. Anytime we declined, they followed us, and
said, “Please, help me feed my family.” It was heartbreaking. If you know me,
you know I chatted some of them up and asked them about their families and many
of them showed my pictures of their kids. We even had kids chasing our bus out
of Bethlehem trying to sell us goods.
While in Bethlehem, we visited Shepherds’ Field. This is the
field where the shepherds were tending their flocks when they received the
message that the Savior had been born. Monsignor Al and Father Rick celebrated
Mass in the cave where the shepherds slept prior to hearing of the Savior’s
birth. It was so moving I cannot describe it. After Mass we climbed up to the
small chapel that was built above the cave.
After the visit to Shepherds’ Field, we had lunch, and tried
falafel for the first time. Falafel is basically a deep-fried ball of ground
chick peas. I have always been pretty culinarily adventurous, but falafel is
not my think, and I can accept that I did, however, love the dessert which was
some sort of baklava. I got extra, I admit.
Then we visited the Church of the Nativity. We saw the spot
where Jesus’ manger was, and we got to touch the spot where Jesus was born.
What a powerful moment! Touching the spot where Jesus became man!
The Church is allocated to three denominations – the Eastern
Orthodox Church, the Christian Armenians, and the Roman Catholics. The section
below where the manger and Christ’s birthplace are belong to the Roman
Catholics is much smaller, so there is a church built alongside the Church of
the Nativity where large Masses are celebrated – Church of St. Catherine of
Alexandria. Traces of 5th century monastery of St. Jerome also exist
here. I should also mention the door to the Church of the Nativity is extremely
small. We all had to duck to get in. There are two reasons for this – (1) to
make everyone bow as they enter the church, and (2) to prevent marauders on
animals from coming in and raiding the church.
Even though we were already exhausted by this time, we moved
on to the Church of St. Peter of Gallicantu, which is located on the eastern
slope of Mount Zion. (Gallicantu means “cock’s crow”) We saw the spot where
Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, and then we went down
the deep dungeon where Jesus was believed to have been kept the night of his
arrest since tradition holds that this spot is where the house of Caiaphas was.
We read a Psalm and spent a somber moment in the crypt.
We also saw steps from the church down to the
Kidron Valley. Archeologists have determined that these were most likely the
steps that Jesus took from the upper room and the Last Supper down to the Kidron
Valley and over to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives
for his final prayers before his arrest. To get chance to be so close and pray
over places so close to the birth and prelude to death Jesus Christ, all in one
day, was an experience we will never forget. Personally, I will never read the
Bible in the same way after this trip.
I am enjoying your blog. I hope you are having a great time.
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