The Bethlehem Star
The Bethlehem Star is a 50-page e-magazine of historical fiction for the month of Jesus’ birth, a one-time-only publication of Scripture on Stage of Livonia, Michigan, with fictional 1st century Jewish reporters covering all the various Nativity stories from the Infancy Narratives of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, with a bunch of extra stories, sports, weather, letters to our readers, etc. to enhance the experience of immersion in the events and people of this time. It is written by John Dzwonkowski, M.A. Theology, former 9-year (college & grad school) seminarian with The Maryknoll Fathers of New York, retired Director of Religious Education for his own St. Priscilla Catholic Parish, and current Master Catechist with the Archdiocese of Detroit. John is also a Catholic playwright, having written, produced, and directed 25+ plays, primarily exploring the great variety of emotions, challenges, struggles, conflicts, and joys surrounding the ministry of Jesus, but especially the events of his birth, and then of his passion, death, and resurrection. John is also the co-founder of St. Priscilla's Movie & Drama Ministry; as well as his own theatrical venture of 30 years so far, Scripture on Stage; through which he performs live 60 and 90-minute theatrical productions of An Evening with Simon Peter, An Evening with St. Joseph, and Peter & Magdalen ...on Jesus, all for solely a Free Will Offering to various parishes throughout the Detroit Archdiocese, complete with myriad emotion-charged music, stage lighting, multiple props, and even a 14' tall Roman crucifix that is used by Peter to demonstrate how this was done by the Romans. John has also published through his Scripture on Stage a comparable fictional e-mag of 58 pages, The Jerusalem Star, supposedly published in Jerusalem of the 1st century on the Sunday evening of Jesus' resurrection. Here we again have a variety of fictional 1st century Jewish reporters covering the various events of Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection, but from their close-up point of view.
The Bethlehem Star is a 50-page e-magazine of historical fiction for the month of Jesus’ birth, a one-time-only publication of Scripture on Stage of Livonia, Michigan, with fictional 1st century Jewish reporters covering all the various Nativity stories from the Infancy Narratives of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, with a bunch of extra stories, sports, weather, letters to our readers, etc. to enhance the experience of immersion in the events and people of this time.
It is written by John Dzwonkowski, M.A. Theology, former 9-year (college & grad school) seminarian with The Maryknoll Fathers of New York, retired Director of Religious Education for his own St. Priscilla Catholic Parish, and current Master Catechist with the Archdiocese of Detroit. John is also a Catholic playwright, having written, produced, and directed 25+ plays, primarily exploring the great variety of emotions, challenges, struggles, conflicts, and joys surrounding the ministry of Jesus, but especially the events of his birth, and then of his passion, death, and resurrection.
John is also the co-founder of St. Priscilla's Movie & Drama Ministry; as well as his own theatrical venture of 30 years so far, Scripture on Stage; through which he performs live 60 and 90-minute theatrical productions of An Evening with Simon Peter, An Evening with St. Joseph, and Peter & Magdalen ...on Jesus, all for solely a Free Will Offering to various parishes throughout the Detroit Archdiocese, complete with myriad emotion-charged music, stage lighting, multiple props, and even a 14' tall Roman crucifix that is used by Peter to demonstrate how this was done by the Romans.
John has also published through his Scripture on Stage a comparable fictional e-mag of 58 pages, The Jerusalem Star, supposedly published in Jerusalem of the 1st century on the Sunday evening of Jesus' resurrection. Here we again have a variety of fictional 1st century Jewish reporters covering the various events of Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection, but from their close-up point of view.
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The Bethlehem Star
Pg. XVIII
We’ve had reports of mothers-in-law holding their
tongues; children playing games in the street where a whole
team loses, and yet nobody gets punched. Brothers and sisters
are helping one another to clean up their rooms. Some
children are washing the dishes without being asked; and a
few have even been reported to be going to bed without being
told by anyone to do so.
The list goes on.
Yesterday in the
marketplace I came upon
none other than that
mountain of a gladiator,
Tyrannosaurus Horribilis,
the one, you remember,
with the short arms and the
enormous teeth who
decimated those four
unfortunate fishermen from
Crete in a drunken brawl
just last month. He was at
Frumel’s Fruit Promenade
where I watched him
squeezing the oranges to
test them for freshness.
When he accidentally pulverized II in a row and
started to become frustrated, frugal old Mr. Frumel simply
slipped him a bowl to catch the juice each time. He loved it;
and pretty soon everyone’s gathering around to sample the
fresh-squeezed orange juice. Smiling Mr. Frumel makes a
killing.
So what’s going on? Well, that’s anybody’s guess.
We could offer an opinion, but we thought you’d rather hear
one from our town elder, Rabbi
These random
acts of kindness
are going to kill my
criminal career.
Ben ben Huutin. Here’s what he
had to say:
“It must be because of that
new star. It is,
of course, a
sign from our
God, but,
“What is it He is trying
to tell us?” I ask.
Then I look about
me. I too see all that
you have seen, and I
feel the joy inside, the
feeling of being at
peace with my
community that all of
these actions bring.
And I think to myself
that that must be what
our God is trying to tell
us.
Thoughts to live by…
When one gazes on that star, and on the
beauty of the heavens all around it, how can one not
think of the order, the unity, the glory of the world
that He has created? It helps me to see all of us as
part of His community of creation together. The
more we are unified, the more we work together, the
more we help one another,
the more beautiful is all of
creation. And, when we do
something nice for
someone else, something
that conforms to the Divine
plan; we feel His presence
inside us, the warmth of
His thanks and of His
praise.
It’s a very nice feeling.
When, however, we hurt
others by our words or our
actions, even if we gain
something for ourselves,
then too we can feel the
presence of our God inside
us, pulling at our hearts,
telling us that we have done something hurtful to
His creatures.
That, I believe, is the message of the star. If
we are ever to really usher in an era of peace, we
must always remember that it can only arrive when
we join our hearts continually to His.”
Well, there you have it, readers. Around this
pressroom, anyway, the words of Rabbi Ben are
never ever taken lightly.
I am nobody.
Nobody is
perfect.
I am perfect.
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