Bethlehem
This week, church leaders from Britain are on pilgrimage in Bethlehem. Here's a little from a story in today's Guardian - Religious leaders arrive in Bethlehem for three-day pilgrimage ...
The heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in England have arrived in Bethlehem for a three-day Christmas pilgrimage to the West Bank town. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales, are leading prayers for the beleaguered town, which is separated from nearby Jerusalem by the Israeli "security barrier" ....
Before leaving for Israel, Dr Williams said that the purpose of the trip was to "be alongside people, Christians, Jews and Muslims, whose lives have been wrecked in different ways by terrorism and by the sense that they're hated and feared by each other. "We'll be with people who are really desperate to find some sort of hope, some way out of the cycle of violence and insecurity." ...
The two men will take part in an ecumenical service at the Grotto of the Nativity, which is believed by Christians to represent the place of the birth of the saviour, Jesus Christ ...
There's also a story at The Tablet - Go Now to Bethlehem - written by someone who spent last year in retreat in Bethlehem. Here's some of that story below ...
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The narrow, ancient streets, with their gorgeous views over terraced hills full of olive, apricot and almond trees, seem to echo with the steps of Mary and Joseph walking to the cave in Manger Square. Pondering the night sky in the Shepherds' Fields, it is easy to catch the wonder of that sky full of light and angels, and to see the Star beckoning us to "go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place" (Luke 2:15). One cannot linger in the Church of the Nativity without reflecting on the light and hope of the world that was born there: God's passionate love for humanity appears captured in the very fabric of the town ....
The Judaean desert is less than half an hour's drive east of Bethlehem, and is where early monasticism took hold. The jewel is Mar Saba, memorably depicted in William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain: a fifth-century Greek Orthodox monastery clinging to a cliff surrounded by the caves where thousands of monks once lived. The experience of the desert - the stillness, the parched land under a cloudless sky, the dromedaries on the horizon - is one of extraordinary power, and prayer is effortless ....
The desert and olive-grove scrub of Jerusalem-Bethlehem-Jericho gives way to green as you drive north towards the Sea of Galilee. This was the base of Jesus' ministry, especially around Capernaum, where Peter and his family lived. The excavated ruins are looked after by Franciscans, who also have care of the Mount of the Beatitudes nearby. These hills are made for walking, and include many of the villages and places where teaching and miracles took place. A short walk down the hill from the Mount is Tabgha, a German Benedictine monastery on the shore, where visitors are warmly invited to join the monks each day for the Office and Mass. Their church is built over a Byzantine mosaic of the loaves and fishes, and the monks keep a lighted candle on the rock where, it is thought, Jesus performed that miracle. It is quiet, and there are few distractions, allowing you calmly to enjoy the placid sea and its herons.
Nearby is an acoustically perfect bay where Jesus spoke from the boat to the multitudes on the shore. Looking across to the other side of the sea - known in biblical times as the Decapolis, where pagans lived - is a recently discovered cave that scholars say could be the one where the Gerasene demoniac howled and gashed himself. Best accompanied by Scripture, all these sites and scenes of Jesus' ministry need plenty of time to be absorbed .... This makes the distinction between the pilgrimage that aims to visit as many sacred sites as possible, and the retreat that allows time for contemplation of the places Scripture records. The events of Divine Revelation have flowed into history, but the places in which God revealed himself to humanity remain ever present. It was all a long time ago; and it is all now ...
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- Grotto of the Nativity
- Church of the Nativity
Read more about the Church of the Nativity in the BBC article Church with a turbulent history
The heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in England have arrived in Bethlehem for a three-day Christmas pilgrimage to the West Bank town. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales, are leading prayers for the beleaguered town, which is separated from nearby Jerusalem by the Israeli "security barrier" ....
Before leaving for Israel, Dr Williams said that the purpose of the trip was to "be alongside people, Christians, Jews and Muslims, whose lives have been wrecked in different ways by terrorism and by the sense that they're hated and feared by each other. "We'll be with people who are really desperate to find some sort of hope, some way out of the cycle of violence and insecurity." ...
The two men will take part in an ecumenical service at the Grotto of the Nativity, which is believed by Christians to represent the place of the birth of the saviour, Jesus Christ ...
There's also a story at The Tablet - Go Now to Bethlehem - written by someone who spent last year in retreat in Bethlehem. Here's some of that story below ...
###
The narrow, ancient streets, with their gorgeous views over terraced hills full of olive, apricot and almond trees, seem to echo with the steps of Mary and Joseph walking to the cave in Manger Square. Pondering the night sky in the Shepherds' Fields, it is easy to catch the wonder of that sky full of light and angels, and to see the Star beckoning us to "go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place" (Luke 2:15). One cannot linger in the Church of the Nativity without reflecting on the light and hope of the world that was born there: God's passionate love for humanity appears captured in the very fabric of the town ....
The Judaean desert is less than half an hour's drive east of Bethlehem, and is where early monasticism took hold. The jewel is Mar Saba, memorably depicted in William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain: a fifth-century Greek Orthodox monastery clinging to a cliff surrounded by the caves where thousands of monks once lived. The experience of the desert - the stillness, the parched land under a cloudless sky, the dromedaries on the horizon - is one of extraordinary power, and prayer is effortless ....
The desert and olive-grove scrub of Jerusalem-Bethlehem-Jericho gives way to green as you drive north towards the Sea of Galilee. This was the base of Jesus' ministry, especially around Capernaum, where Peter and his family lived. The excavated ruins are looked after by Franciscans, who also have care of the Mount of the Beatitudes nearby. These hills are made for walking, and include many of the villages and places where teaching and miracles took place. A short walk down the hill from the Mount is Tabgha, a German Benedictine monastery on the shore, where visitors are warmly invited to join the monks each day for the Office and Mass. Their church is built over a Byzantine mosaic of the loaves and fishes, and the monks keep a lighted candle on the rock where, it is thought, Jesus performed that miracle. It is quiet, and there are few distractions, allowing you calmly to enjoy the placid sea and its herons.
Nearby is an acoustically perfect bay where Jesus spoke from the boat to the multitudes on the shore. Looking across to the other side of the sea - known in biblical times as the Decapolis, where pagans lived - is a recently discovered cave that scholars say could be the one where the Gerasene demoniac howled and gashed himself. Best accompanied by Scripture, all these sites and scenes of Jesus' ministry need plenty of time to be absorbed .... This makes the distinction between the pilgrimage that aims to visit as many sacred sites as possible, and the retreat that allows time for contemplation of the places Scripture records. The events of Divine Revelation have flowed into history, but the places in which God revealed himself to humanity remain ever present. It was all a long time ago; and it is all now ...
###
- Grotto of the Nativity
- Church of the Nativity
Read more about the Church of the Nativity in the BBC article Church with a turbulent history
posted by crystal | 6:37 PM
7 Comments:
Those are nice pictures (and yes, I've been there). Bethlehem is going through a very tough time right now.
Liam, did you write that song for Johnny Cash? :-)
I've never been to China, Nigeria, or Wisconsin, for example.
I've never been to Ulaanbaatar. Man, I want to go to Ulaanbaatar.
And of course you've never been to Bari.
Ulan Bator(sic)! Me too! I've wanted to go to Mongolia since I was a little kid, but I don't know if I could handle the food they serve up in them yurts.
Nice post and images Crystal. Bethlehem is going through a tough time. The Church of the Nativity was even the scene of a gunfight a few years ago.
Hi Jeff,
yes, I think that was in 2002?
Forget Mongolia ... let's go to antarctica instead - icebergs!
Right, 2002... can't believe it was that long ago now. The Franiscans who look after the Church handled the standoff about as well as it could possibly be done.
Antarctica? Brrrrr... Pretty cold, but could be interesting. There's a great observatory down there.
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