Christmas in Bethlehem

Last evening, I celebrated my first Christmas in Bethlehem with my wife, good friends, and the thousands who came. Manger Square was a feast for the senses: dazzling lights, sounds as at a rock concert, at times the uncomfortable jostling of the crowd, and the smells of coffee, falafel, and cigarettes. "Awesome" is the descriptive word of the young, and youth made up most of the crowd.

As we entered St. Catherine's Church, the contrast was welcomed. The crowds waited there in rather quiet anticipation. At 10:30 p. m. the liturgy celebrated the actions of St. Francis who more than anyone provided the world with its most common image of Christmas, the creche. Then the processional began for the Midnight Mass. I was reminded of what our Roman Catholic friends do best, liturgy and pageantry. Similarly, I felt as in Manger Square the awe of Christmas!

Before departing Bethlehem, we waited outside the church for the arrival of the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen. He was late for the Christmas Mass and his witness of solidarity with the local and worldwide Christian community. Finally, he arrived recognizing the crowd with vigorous waves.

Christmas in Bethlehem! The memory will linger and inform future Christmases in other places and times for me. "Christ the Savior is born!"