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. XXXIV
Keeping An Eye on the Royals
By Kitty Caligula
May my quill be mightier than their sword!
Looks like Ol’ Herod is kissin’ up again, and we’re
getting stuck with the bill.
I just came from Rome a fortnight ago and, I gotta
tell ya, they think pretty highly of him over there, their local
royal puppet on the eastern edge of the empire. Apparently,
what we call murder, assassination, extortion, and
greed, ...they call good business. And, as long as Herod
keeps us paying taxes to them, and continues to crush any
potential rebellions, they think he’s practically a god; ...in
their warped minds.
Anyway, he petitioned for MMM more Midian
slaves to finish up work on his Temple in Jerusalem. He’s
been at it now for some XV years. The smart money says the
man goes to his grave without seeing that monstrosity ever
completed.
We’ve all watched the
construction over there on our
lunch hour. Did you know
that it takes over CCC slaves
more than a month to place
one of them humongous
stones in place? Just one
stone! Why Herod doesn’t
have them just cut them up
into more bite-size pieces, I’ll
never know. I think he
expects that west wall to last
forever.
Hey, it’s not his back,
is it?
Regardless, the man
is now LXVII years old, and,
quite frankly, that skin disease
he picked up really seems to
be getting the better of him.
He looks terrible these days,
and seems to be in continual discomfort. Unfortunately,
that’s had a rather frustrating effect on his paranoid
temperament.
According to his close friend Nicholas of Damascus,
who seems to be preparing written notes for a later
biography, Herod spends an awful lot of his time these days
in the hot springs of Callirrhoe, just east of the Dead Sea, as
you know, trying to get some relief from his discomfort. If
Our renowned dirt-digging
investigative reporter Kitty Caligula
you have a
business
small claims
case pending,
therefore, you
may want to see
about trying to
settle out of court
instead.
Meantime, Bethlehemites, we’d better
prepare. Word has it that, if he does pass, he
wanted his body interred in that huge mounded
fortress we all call the Herodium just to our
southeast. I’ve been in there, and it’s absolutely
magnificent, ...if royal flamboyance is your
style. If you’re wondering
why your kids are living
off grain, and his family
has beefsteaks every day,
this place will tell you
where your money’s
going. I can see us all
paying taxes out of the
nose for all eternity trying
to cover the upkeep and
the guard duty on the
place, especially with so
many of us hoping to
steal an item or two just
to get some of our money
back from the wretch.
That’s all for now. But
don’t worry, if woeful
King Herod decides to
put to death any more of
his family, you’ll be sure
to read all about it right here. Seems, if you’re
going to marry ten different women and father
children with so many of them, you’ve got to
expect a little conflict when the table talk turns
to succession.
Let’s all watch our backs out there.
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