Pilgrimage to Bethlehem: The Journey Ends and Begins

It is the 27th and the final day of our Advent Pilgrimage to Bethlehem that ends at the manger in the town of David. The angels are singing, the shepherds are seeking, the Magi are following a star, and the parents  are resting from the exhaustion of  their journey to Bethlehem from Nazareth and the birth in a stable cave. Mary is holding her beloved child of promise and Joseph is beaming. The universe is changed. The hope of new life and fresh new starts has arrived. All of creation rejoices.

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

Star over the Nativity. Illuminated manuscript

May the blessings of Christmas be yours. Thank you for joining me on this 27 day Advent journey of anticipation and new life. We have met some of the nativity characters, prayed some prayers and read some poetry, and looked at incredible artists’ renditions of this faith journey.

It is an amazing gift that you journeyed with me to the birth of the greatest Gift. May our lives continue to cross paths on our life’s pilgrimage.  Let us join the shepherds, the angels, and the prophet Anna in sharing the good news that Christ has been born.

We began the first steps of our Pilgrimage to Bethlehem with “Watch Out for that Star!”  on November 29 and we end today watching for that star that illumines our way to new life, transformation, and fresh new starts through Jesus the Christ.

Prayer of Christmas. Dear God, Thank you for the birth of your Son, Jesus the Christ and for the hope that I have for new life and fresh new starts. I join the Magi, shepherds, angels, and stable animals in bowing down and worshipping Immanuel, “God with us.” Thank you that through Immanuel, Jesus the Christ that I am never alone on this life journey. Amen.

Nativity from modern day handwritten and illuminated St. John’s Bible. http://www.saintjohnsbible.org. Luke Frontispiece. Birth of Christ. by Donald Jackson

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Pilgrimage to Bethlehem: Feeding trough

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:6-7 (TNIV)

Pilgrimage to Bethlehem. 12th day of Advent. Jesus, the Messiah was probably not born  in a European-looking wooden stable, but in a Middle Eastern stable hewn from a hill, what we would consider as a grotto. The traditional place of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem,  is in a grotto-like cave. Even the manger that the newborn babe was laid in was quite likely a stone feeding trough, not a wooden one as we see beautifully and romantically pictured in Western European paintings.

Jesus, the bread of life was born in Bethlehem meaning “House of Bread.” His first crib was a rough-hewn feeding trough for domestic animals.

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Tradition claims this is the spot where Jesus was born.

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6 (TNIV)

Jesus, the bread of life gives life to all creation. The Table where we gather for communion each Sunday is like that feeding trough.  A place of inclusion where outcast shepherds and seeking Magi alike can bow hearts and lives. A place where angels and the communion of saints surround us in celebrating new life  and fresh new starts. A sacred trough where the  Bread of Life is newly born and laid out for us each time we gather. Jesus, the Bread of Life says, “Take eat, this is my body.” And we respond, “feed me till I want no more.”

Bread of Life carved in stone at Iona Abbey on the Isle of Iona, Scotland. Photo taken while I was on sabbatical on Iona, Sept. 2009

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