Baby Jesus leaving St. Catherine’s Church & heading for the Manager beneath the altar of the Church of the Nativity!

Biblical Moment 21: Bethlehem: Celebrating Jesus’ Birth Where He was Born! Alleluia!

Day 12 of Andy’s month-long ‘Spiritual Journey to Israel & Palestine was Christmas Eve December 24th!

I would end the day celebrating Midnight Mass on the day Jesus was born at the place Jesus was born in Bethlehem! A dream come true to celebrate Jesus’ birth where it happened in the grotto beneath the altar of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine! The mass actually takes place in the adjacent Church of St. Catherine literally about 100 feet from the grotto. At the end of the mass the newly born Baby Jesus is part of a procession out of St. Catherine’s into the grotto to place him in the manger!

To get to Midnight Mass in Bethlehem I took the 324 bus to Checkpoint 300, all of which I rehearsed the week prior. Instead of walking the two miles up to Nativity Square I took my old friend Khalid’s taxi this time with a detour to visit the nearby Shepherds’ Field, a biblical moment. Khalid took me to an unscheduled stop at his brother’s Olive Wood Factory just below Nativity Square. Very nice merchandise but no room in the suitcase to take home!

Nativity Square with its huge Christmas Tree had come alive since my last visit! Some more fried shepherd’s cheese with my friend Mahmoud at the Nativity Square Restaurant. I am a man of habits except when I am not!

Lourdes from Heaven Above provided not only a ticket to Midnight Mass but a room at Casa Nova Pilgrim House which is literally attached to the Nativity/St. Catherine’s churches! I felt a bit guilty as there was a room for me at the inn but not one for Mary & Joseph and little Baby-to-Be Jesus.

I stayed up until 3 AM just taking in the atmosphere of Bethlehem and Nativity Square and all what the birth of Jesus has meant to the world! TROML Baby (an exclamation of joy); what a day Christmas Eve 2018 turned out to be! An overwhelming blessing for sure! Grateful!

A Prophecy foretold and a Prophecy fulfilled!

“But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah least among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, Then the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel. He shall take His Place as Shepherd by the strength of the Lord, by the majestic name of the Lord, his God; and they shall dwell securely, for now His Greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth: He shall be peace.”—Micah 5:1-4

CLICK HERE for VIDEO of Christmas Carols & Muslim Muezzin on Nativity Square in Bethlehem!

Peaceful, joyful, & spiritual moment at Nativity Square in Bethlehem, Palestine last Christmas Eve… beyond the lighted Christmas Tree to the right is the Church of the Nativity beneath which is where the Grotto of the Nativity, the very place Jesus was born… to the left is the Mosque of Omar, Bethlehem’s only mosque… in between the Palestinian Peace Center… the sounds of Christmas carols being sung as the loudspeakers echo a Muslim Muezzin for the Adhan, one of five daily calls to prayer… and in the Old City of Jerusalem there are similar peaceful, joyful, & spiritual moments… wishing peace to all people and all nations in the upcoming New Year of 2020!

(Andy Reistetter; Facebook Post with 1 Video; 12-24-18)

CLICK HERE for VIDEO of Christmas Eve on Nativity Square in Bethlehem!

An extraordinary spiritual Merry Christmas to you from Bethlehem! Celebrating Jesus’ birth where he was born! Visited Jesus’ birthplace beneath the altar of the Church of the Nativity! Dinner at The Square Restaurant now, festival, & Midnight Mass later!

(Andy Reistetter; Facebook Post with 1 Video; 12-24-18)

CLICK HERE for VIDEO of Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa welcoming Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas at Midnight Mass!

Wonderful & hopeful message and welcoming Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestine by the Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem! The restored mosaics in the Church of the Nativity are beautiful and so too can we and our countries be! Praying for peace, respect and full autonomy for the States of Israel and Palestine!

(Andy Reistetter; Facebook Post with 1 Video; 12-25-18)

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Biblical Moment 22: Bethlehem: Walking as Mary & Joseph did; Up to the Church of the Nativity!

On my first visit to Bethlehem I walked the couple of miles from the border with Israel, through the town of Bethlehem, up to the place where Jesus was born, now the Church of the Nativity. Along the way I saw many interesting things—foremost being an inspiring ‘2-0-0-0 Millennial Statue with a ‘2’ and three interlocking ‘0’ rings reaching up to the sky. I crossed the street to get a closer look and read the accompanying plaque.

“In the region where the most fervent was the encounter of the great monotheistic religions that manifested itself in a clash for the past—the three links that represent each one (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and that at the same time connect the third rising millennium uplifted towards the sky rather than tumbling down inertly—want to evoke a new spiritual course—inspired to the light of humanity and culture—untamed yearning for hope of solidarity and peace among peoples freedom of faith and thought—creative conviction of a sincere future for the world.”—Ottaviano Giannangeli

“Want to evoke a new spiritual course? TROML Baby (an exclamation of Joy & Gratitude)! Thank you God for your wisdom and creative talent expressed through Ottaviano Giannangeli. A hidden angel now made public in the little town of Bethlehem!

I continued walking as the road took a turn to the right; there was a grassy field with a view to die for. I didn’t want to die so I stayed a safe distance from the drop-off point and sat down and open my bible to the Gospel of Luke 2:4-7 to read about Mary & Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. I was likely walking along the same ridges as Joseph leading the pregnant Mary on a donkey. This is antiquity that I was reliving today that will be as real as real can be come Christmas Eve with the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Like acing a math test in middle school I knew I was on the path to the right answer to the right question in life once again.

What is it all about? We live and we all die a common destiny but there is a God and an exquisite spiritual meaning to each one of our lives. We seek and find God’s Will for our life through an ongoing relationship with God The Father; God The Holy Spirit; and God Jesus Christ—The Trinity! With a compassionate, loving and merciful heart like Jesus’, powered and tethered by The Holy Spirit one surrenders their will to God’s Will and miraculous things happen to them and in their lives! TROML Baby (an exclamation of Joy and Gratitude)!

Here are some biblical references in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The other two Gospels—Mark and John—start with John the Baptist and Jesus as an adult man beginning his ministry at age 30.

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, Magi came from the East to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His Star in the East and have come to worship Him.””—Matthew 2:1-2

“And behold, the star that they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. And when they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly. And entering the house they found the Child with Mary His Mother, and falling down they worshiped Him. And opening their treasures and they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”—Matthew 2:9-11

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”—Luke 2:1-7

Bible Moment 23: Bethlehem—The Redemption of Ruth; Great Grandmother to David!

The Biblical Story of the Redemption of Ruth begins and ends in Bethlehem—Elimech was Ruth’s Father-in-Law—so Elimech from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab—and after tragedy happens where Elimech and his two sons die and his wife Naomi is left with two Daughter-in-Laws one of which is Ruth who accompanies her back to Jerusalem—so they went on together until they reached Bethlehem. On their arrival there, the whole town was excited about them.

Here is the Biblical Story of the Redemption of Ruth which begins in despair but ends with delight (Ruth 1-4):

Ruth Chapter 1:

“Once back in the Time of the Judges there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Some time after their arrival on the plateau of Moab, Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two boys nor her husband.”

“She and her daughters-in-law then prepared to go back from the plateau of Moab because word had reached her there that the Lord had seen to his people’s needs and given them food. She and her two daughters-in-law left the place where they had been living. On the road back to the land of Judah, Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord show you the same kindness as you have shown to the deceased and to me. May the Lord guide each of you to find a husband and a home in which you will be at rest.” She kissed them good-bye, but they wept aloud, crying, “No! We will go back with you, to your people.” Naomi replied, “Go back, my daughters. Why come with me? Have I other sons in my womb who could become your husbands? Go, my daughters, for I am too old to marry again. Even if I had any such hope, or if tonight I had a husband and were to bear sons, would you wait for them and deprive yourselves of husbands until those sons grew up? No, my daughters, my lot is too bitter for you, because the Lord has extended his hand against me.” Again they wept aloud; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her.”

““See now,” she said, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her god. Go back after your sister-in-law!” But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon you! Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried. May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death separates me from you!” Naomi then ceased to urge her, for she saw she was determined to go with her.

So they went on together until they reached Bethlehem. On their arrival there, the whole town was excited about them, and the women asked: “Can this be Naomi?” But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (Sweet). Call me Mara (Bitter), for the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why should you call me ‘Sweet,’ since the Lord has brought me to trial, and the Almighty has pronounced evil sentence on me.” Thus it was that Naomi came back with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, who accompanied her back from the plateau of Moab. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.”

Ruth Chapter 2:

“Naomi had a powerful relative named Boaz, through the clan of her husband Elimelech. Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “I would like to go and glean grain in the field of anyone who will allow me.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went. The field she entered to glean after the harvesters happened to be the section belonging to Boaz, of the clan of Elimelech. Soon, along came Boaz from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you,” and they replied, “The Lord bless you.” Boaz asked the young man overseeing his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” The young man overseeing the harvesters answered, “She is the young Moabite who came back with Naomi from the plateau of Moab. She said, ‘I would like to gather the gleanings into sheaves after the harvesters.’ Ever since she came this morning she has remained here until now, with scarcely a moment’s rest.”

Boaz then spoke to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in anyone else’s field; you are not to leave here. Stay here with my young women. Watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them. Have I not commanded the young men to do you no harm? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the vessels the young people have filled.” Casting herself prostrate upon the ground, she said to him, “Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your attention?” Boaz answered her: “I have had a complete account of what you have done for your mother-in-law after your husband’s death; you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom previously you did not know. May the Lord reward what you have done! May you receive a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” She said, “May I prove worthy of your favor, my lord. You have comforted me. You have spoken to the heart of your servant—and I am not even one of your servants!” At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and have something to eat; dip your bread in the sauce.” Then as she sat near the harvesters, he handed her some roasted grain and she ate her fill and had some left over. As she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young people: “Let her glean among the sheaves themselves without scolding her, and even drop some handfuls and leave them for her to glean; do not rebuke her.”

She gleaned in the field until evening, and when she beat out what she had gleaned it came to about an ephah of barley, which she took into the town and showed to her mother-in-law. Next she brought out what she had left over from the meal and gave it to her. So her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you go to work? May the one who took notice of you be blessed!” Then she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked. “The man at whose place I worked today is named Boaz,” she said. “May he be blessed by the Lord, who never fails to show kindness to the living and to the dead,” Naomi exclaimed to her daughter-in-law. She continued, “This man is a near relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” “He even told me,” added Ruth the Moabite, “Stay with my young people until they complete my entire harvest.” “You would do well, my daughter,” Naomi rejoined, “to work with his young women; in someone else’s field you might be insulted.” So she stayed gleaning with Boaz’s young women until the end of the barley and wheat harvests.

Ruth Chapter 3:

“When Ruth was back with her mother-in-law, Naomi said to her, “My daughter, should I not be seeking a pleasing home for you? Now! Is not Boaz, whose young women you were working with, a relative of ours? This very night he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Now, go bathe and anoint yourself; then put on your best attire and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make yourself known to the man before he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, take note of the place where he lies; then go uncover a place at his feet and you lie down. He will then tell you what to do.” “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth replied. She went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her.

Boaz ate and drank to his heart’s content, and went to lie down at the edge of the pile of grain. She crept up, uncovered a place at his feet, and lay down. Midway through the night, the man gave a start and groped about, only to find a woman lying at his feet. “Who are you?” he asked. She replied, “I am your servant Ruth. Spread the wing of your cloak over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” He said, “May the Lord bless you, my daughter! You have been even more loyal now than before in not going after the young men, whether poor or rich. Now rest assured, my daughter, I will do for you whatever you say; all my townspeople know you to be a worthy woman. Now, I am in fact a redeemer, but there is another redeemer closer than I. Stay where you are for tonight, and tomorrow, if he will act as redeemer for you, good. But if he will not, as the Lord lives, I will do it myself. Lie there until morning.” So she lay at his feet until morning, but rose before anyone could recognize another, for Boaz had said, “Let it not be known that this woman came to the threshing floor.” Then he said to her, “Take off the shawl you are wearing; hold it firmly.” When she did so, he poured out six measures of barley and helped her lift the bundle; then he himself left for the town.

She, meanwhile, went home to her mother-in-law, who asked, “How did things go, my daughter?” So she told her all the man had done for her, and concluded, “He gave me these six measures of barley and said, ‘Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty.’” Naomi then said, “Wait here, my daughter, until you learn what happens, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.”

Ruth Chapter 4:

“Boaz went to the gate and took a seat there. Along came the other redeemer of whom he had spoken. Boaz called to him by name, “Come, sit here.” And he did so. Then Boaz picked out ten of the elders of the town and asked them to sit nearby. When they had done this, he said to the other redeemer: “Naomi, who has come back from the plateau of Moab, is putting up for sale the piece of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. So I thought I would inform you. Before those here present, including the elders of my people, purchase the field; act as redeemer. But if you do not want to do it, tell me so, that I may know, for no one has a right of redemption prior to yours, and mine is next.” He answered, “I will act as redeemer.”

Boaz continued, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you also acquire responsibility for Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the late heir, to raise up a family for the deceased on his estate.” The redeemer replied, “I cannot exercise my right of redemption for that would endanger my own estate. You do it in my place, for I cannot.”

Now it used to be the custom in Israel that, to make binding a contract of redemption or exchange, one party would take off a sandal and give it to the other. This was the form of attestation in Israel. So the other redeemer, in saying to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” drew off his sandal.

Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all the holdings of Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon. I also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, as my wife, in order to raise up a family for her late husband on his estate, so that the name of the deceased may not perish from his people and his place. Do you witness this today?” All those at the gate, including the elders, said, “We do. May the Lord make this woman come into your house like Rachel and Leah, who between them built up the house of Israel. Prosper in Ephrathah! Bestow a name in Bethlehem! With the offspring the Lord will give you from this young woman, may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

When they came together as husband and wife, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not failed to provide you today with a redeemer. May he become famous in Israel! He will restore your life and be the support of your old age, for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you. She is worth more to you than seven sons!” Naomi took the boy, cradled him against her breast, and cared for him. The neighbor women joined the celebration: “A son has been born to Naomi!” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

These are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salma, Salma was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.”

Biblical Moment 24: Bethlehem: The Biblical Story of the Redemption of the Lost Sheep

We all get lost in life from time-to-time; some more than others; some less than others. Sometimes it takes us a long time to realize that we are that one in one hundred and are indeed the ‘Lost Sheep!’ Sometimes people never realize they are lost and like a detour in the old days without GPS, when you miss one detour sign it is very tough to get back on the main road again. Denial, Rationalization, and Justification step in to transform the detour road into the main road, but only in our perception. We can become lost forever…

But here is the Biblical Story of the Redemption of the Lost Sheep for us to have and to hold and utilize in good faith as many times as needed in our lifetime!

I connect this part of the Bible with Bethlehem because of the role that all the shepherds and their sheep played in story of the birth of Jesus.

Our Father in Heaven, God The Father is a Master of Love, Compassion, and Mercy. Powered by God The Holy Spirit and the heart of Jesus Christ, Our Lord & Savior he is always there to help us find ourselves and welcome us back into the flock of human beings with a heart of love, compassion, and mercy; first inwardly and them outwardly to all human beings we meet or are in relationship with.

All Glory, Honor, Praise to GOD The Trinity Now and Forever!

TROML Baby (an Exclamation of Great Joy. Rejoice, and Gratitude)!!!

The Biblical Story of the Redemption of the Lost Sheep:

(Luke 15:1-7)

Shepherd’s Field—“Gloria in Excelsis Deo”—Latin for “Glory to God in the Highest”

“The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this parable. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

Biblical Moment 25: Bethlehem: The Magi Come to pay Homage to Newborn Jesus!

Bethlehem is where Jesus was born and Bethlehem is where the Magi, the three kings, came to pay Him homage.

Star gazers and Star followers back in the day, over 2,000 years ago!

Wise were the Magi or just plain smart to follow the warnings that came to them in a dream. Had they gone back to King Herod and showed him where the Baby Jesus was they likely would have been killed to cover up Herod’s planned atrocity. Then again he was not secretive when he massacred all the young boys two years or younger during what the Jewish Faith calls Passover. Ruthless but not so smart or even lazy to not have follow the Magi to Jesus in the first place.

Bottom line the birth of Jesus was divine, royal and a glorious event in the history of the world!

Here is the story line of the Magi from Chapter Two in the Gospel of Matthew:

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to Shepherd My People Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the Child. When you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the Child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the Child with Mary His Mother. They prostrated themselves and did Him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”—Matthew 2;1-12