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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Pg. XXXII
Chariot Races to Honor
Caesar Augustus!
Come on down to the Hippodrome this afternoon and see
some of the finest steeds the world has ever known! They oughta
be! We’ve all been paying for their feed up at the Megiddo
stables for years now. These beasts eat better than we do! They
look better than most of us, too! So come see your tax denarii in
action!
Caesar once said that it would be better to be one of
Herod’s pigs than one of his sons. Well, I’d rather be one of his
horses! Life should be so kind to us.
Commanding his four ivory-white warrior steeds will be
the Sicilian mercenary commander Titus Corleonus, former
champion of the ill-fated “Chariot Battle at Sea” against the
barbarian rebel flotilla of Carthage, a man reputed to actually
have beheaded the champion steeds of his opponent only last
year, after which he is alleged to have placed their heads beneath
the man’s bedclothes even as he slept. Can you imagine?
This indictment, however, has still not been proven,
as it seems the fates have stepped in, killing off potential
witnesses by a mysterious, gruesome series of
accidents.
He’ll be challenged today by none other than
the vile young Carpathian heathen Lumbricus
Terrestris, a violent, despicable wretch raised and
trained by the slimy tunnel dwellers of the mountains
of the east.
Remember, whoever loses this one, we all win.
One of the most exhilarating sideshows to
these chariot races, at least in the mind of this writer, is
the breakdown of a wheel or a harness, causing the
driver to quickly bring his chariot into the pits. It’s
utterly amazing to watch the speed at which the
drivers’ crews can correct the problem and get them
back into the race, all while the sundial keeps forging
relentlessly forward.
The grand prize today will be LXX denarii, II
prize steeds from the Herodium fortress, and a possible
vestal virgin to the winner. The IInd place finisher
will be allowed to keep his life. IIIrd and IVth—
maybe not so lucky.
What could be more festive?
Last week’s camel-spitting exhibition will
not be repeated today, due to out-of-hand protests by
the wives of the contestants, complaining of
husbands who chewed the very same eucalyptus
leaves as their camels in an attempt to demonstrate
to their beasts what was being commanded of them.
Apparently, the stench of eucalyptus breath fairly
ruined several households, despite its favorable
effect of expelling insect pests.
And, today, sad to report, ...no elephants. It
seems that repairs have still not been completed on
that section of the bleachers where the peanut
vendors were holding their annual “Nuts to You”
sales and distribution planning convention. So,
really, how could anyone have known that those
otherwise lovable beasts enjoyed those things that
much?
Personally, I can’t believe that these Romans
have conquered the known world just so they can
put on spectacles like this. If this is supposed to be
the highest level of civilization of which we’re
capable, we’re in sorry shape indeed.
See ya there!
W-H-A-T?
Calm down! I
told ya, they’re outta
peanuts today!
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