Bethlehem and Beyond

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 5^th 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.