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. XXVII
~ Point / Counterpoint ~
The New Star—Omen of Peace …or War?
Absolutely Peace!
Rabbi Yeshua ben Yehudah of the Temple Priesthood
How ridiculous can this get? Those of our people who think that this
new star can mean anything but the beginning of a new era of peace in our
land should be burned at the altar of sacrifice, right along with the oxen and
the sheep. Don’t be ridiculous!
One only has to step outside and gaze at the night sky to see the
radiance of this new star. Why would our God set a new masterpiece in His
skies just to taunt us? If he wanted to do that, He’d make the star so bright
that we’d all be blinded. Hmmph, sounds like some of us are already.
Go outside; take a good look at that star. And, if you’re like me, you’ll
actually feel a new sense of peace coursing through your body. I’ve never had
a star do that to me before!
Sure, the Romans have taken over. Sure, we are stuck with Ol’ Herod
for another couple of years maybe. But soon—mark my words—soon a son of
Israel will rise up like none other that we have seen, and he will smite our
enemies with a heavy hand. It is he who will raise us up to the stature we have
always been promised. Look to the skies for the coming of a great warrior, a
leader who will surely restore the mighty throne of David.
No longer will we have to permit these evil men of Greece and of Rome to dictate to us and to our children how
we shall live our lives. No more will we have to allow the presence of
heathen graven images across the land! No more will we have to stand
worriedly by as our children cross paths with those heathens who are
always discussing ...philosophy, ...and ...democracy, ...and all those other
strange, foreign, distorted ideas meant only to destroy our society and our
youth. Multiple gods! You’ve got to be kidding!
What this star is saying to me is that, finally, we, the Chosen of the
Lord, will be raised up to take our rightful place at the very top of the
known world. No longer will we be slaves to anyone else. Rather, the world
all about us shall be slaves and servants of the Chosen!
Therefore, I advise all of you young men of Israel to train now for
the coming peace. Beat your plowshares into swords; study the ways of the
wild beasts, for we too shall become as them, all in order to stand at the
right hand of the warrior of peace who is to come. Let us join together for
the final conflagration. When the clarion call is sounded, let us all be ready
to march, side by side with our God, to the fields of victory, and to the fields
of peace for all in our land.
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