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.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
The Bethlehem Star
Pg. XLV
How Well Have You Read?
After reading this issue, see if you can answer these questions.
1. What are the names of the III wise men
from the East?
2. What is a “manger” normally used for?
3. What is meant by “swaddling” clothes?
4. What was the name of the first child to visit
the child Jesus?
5. What is the name of the twin of the
shepherd whose story is told on pg. XVII?
6. What did the III wise men from the East
think of King Herod after they met him?
7. How old was King Herod at the time that
the child Jesus was born?
8. Who owned the stable where the child Jesus
was born?
9. What III celestial bodies may have come
close together in the skies to look like a
bright new star at this time?
10. According to Kasper, in which constellation
did the “new star” appear, and why was
that significant to them?
11. How did Joseph plan to catch up with
the caravan after he and Mary
had fallen behind on their journey?
12. At the time of Jesus’ birth, how long had
King Herod been rebuilding the
Temple in Jerusalem?
13. Why didn’t the III wise men return to
King Herod to tell him where they
had found the child?
14. Who are the two “Gladiatorial
Champions” for today’s contest in
Jerusalem?
15. Why was the snow sculpture of Herod’s
Temple destroyed, and by whom?
16. Who is an even bigger fool than the
person who knows it all?
17. What is the date of this issue of the
Bethlehem Star? It is also the likely
date, according to the Julian
calendar used by Rome then, for the
date of the very first Christmas.
The Bethlehem Star
magazine is a weekly publication of the community of
Bethlehem writers and illustrators, who seek to keep all of us
Bethlehemites informed of the goings-on in the kingdom of
Judea. Actual names and pictures of writers and illustrators are a
closely guarded secret, of course, as public disclosure will likely
result in beheading or worse, at the hands of King Herod, or the
Romans, or anybody else who doesn’t happen to agree with us
and has a bigger sword.
Change language