Merry Christmas from Bethlehem!

Christmas Eve was exciting-! The narrow streets were crowded under suspended strings of garlands and lights, and people hung from balconies and rooftops to watch the parade wind its way to Manger Square. I came down through a narrow stairway and watched the parade pass by between buildings. I wanted to get to the Church of the Nativity before the Patriarch did so I could see him enter (or to see whatever it was that was going to happen, I wasn’t really sure), so I ran through adjacent streets and walkways- passing through the fruit market, down stairs and through alleyways, all to the music of bagpipes and drums the next street over! I managed to make it all the way up to the doorway of the Church, while confetti and fireworks were being shot off in the square, and I could see the high-twirling batons of the drum majors, the officers with their AK-47’s on top of the buildings, balloons being released, and the long line of monks waiting to greet the Patriarch. We were wearing our clerical shirts so that people would know that we were seminarians at mass that night (so I felt a bit older and very much like a priest as I wove through the crowds).
We went to midnight mass at Bethlehem University, and as Ben and I were both part of the choir we stood on the balcony platform tucked between the organ pipes. I’ve been loosely in charge of the Mundelein Choir, and we had been practicing diligently with Sister P’s university choir these last few days- they even taught us a beautiful Christmas song in Arabic! We felt like part of the Christian community here in working with the students and getting to know them, and Sister P has a special place in our hearts now. We clapped and cheered after the last song 'Joy to the World.'

After the reception (with caroling and a ‘Christmas Donkey’ of Ben’s invention) I walked outside and sat in the courtyard under the Christmas lights- through the trees the moon was full. 2:30 in the morning. I wondered what time Mary and Joseph came into Bethlehem? Was Mary already having birth pangs when they were turned out into the cold by the innkeepers? Walking the streets I realized how quiet it is in Bethlehem at night, even now (though maybe that’s because Palestinian officers aren’t allowed in the streets past a certain time). How still we see thee lie. They would have had to wake people up- and how cruel- the only hospitality they could find was for someone to let them stay in their stable with the animals. Can you imagine how Joseph must have felt? I tried to imagine the shepherds in their field and the angels breaking through the sky. The other day we went to a Bedouin orphanage and I held an abandoned baby that was only five days old- his little hands gripped onto my finger and I thought of how small Jesus became. Not like the Nativity Scenes where he looks like he’s three years old- but a newborn baby, wrapped up like a peanut or a papoose. The hope of the world! As I went to bed I thought of the Holy Family bundled up in the hay to sleep when the shepherds came.
Today outside of the Church of the Nativity the crowds whorled into a simple folk dance encircling a group of musicians singing Gloria’s and Alleluia’s- I joined in the celebration before meeting the rest of the seminarians for Christmas Dinner at a restaurant (where it was so crowded that one of us had to eat with his plate in his lap and I had to pretend to be left-handed). It was the first Christmas for many of us with no family- but be assured that you are held in our prayers here in this blessed place at this blessed time! Merry Christmas Pilgrims-!

Mike