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Subscribe to RSSAt midnight mass in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, the cradle of Christianity, the message was of peace, love and goodwill to all mankind. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.
Pilgrims and locals celebrated Christmas Day on Tuesday in the ancient Bethlehem church where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminating the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filling its overflowing halls.
Overcast skies and a cold wind didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers who came dressed in holiday finery and the traditional attire of foreign lands to mark the holy day in this biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited eagerly to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.
Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., traveled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem's Manger Square where the church stands.
"I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time," Hardock said. "On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem ... But the moment we got into town, we're suddenly in the middle of the party."
Bethlehem lies 6 miles south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.
Hardock's girlfriend, 22-year-old Jennifer Gemmell of Longmont, Colorado, compared the festive spirit in Manger Square on Christmas Eve, saying "it's like being at Times Square at New Year's."
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The cavernous church was unable to hold all the worshippers who had hoped to celebrate Christmas Day Mass inside. A loudspeaker outside the church broadcast the service to the hundreds in the square who could not pack inside.
Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images
In churches and bus stations, on water skis and bicycles, people from the Middle East to middle America celebrate Christmas.
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Tourists in the square posed for pictures as vendors hawked olive wood rosaries, nativity scenes, corn on the cob, roasted nuts, tea and coffee.
An official from the Palestinian tourism ministry predicted 10,000 foreigners would visit Bethlehem on Christmas Day and said 15,000 visited on Christmas Eve — up 20 percent from a year earlier. The official, Rula Maia'a, attributed the rise in part to the Church of the Nativity's classification earlier this year as a U.N. World Heritage Site.
Christians from Israel — Arab citizens and others — also boosted the number of visitors.
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On Christmas Eve, thousands of Christians from all over the world packed the square, which was awash in light, resplendent with decorations and adorned by a lavishly decorated, 55-foot fir tree. Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city's year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations' recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.
On Monday evening, Pope Benedict XVI prayed that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and freedom, and asked the faithful to pray for strife-torn Syria as well as Lebanon and Iraq.
He urged people to reflect upon what they find time for in their busy, technology-driven lives.
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"The great moral question of our attitude toward the homeless, toward refugees and migrants takes on a deeper dimension: Do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him?" the pope said.
"The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent," Benedict lamented.
Later Tuesday, the world's Christmas focus will shift to Vatican City, where the pope will deliver his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" speech — Latin for "to the city and the world" — from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered in the piazza below.
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Too bad they're only 4 months late.
Jesus, if he actually existed (not likely), was born in August; read your Bible.
The Article never states he was born on December 25. It just mentions where tradition mentions WHERE he was born.
Pilgrims and locals celebrated Christmas Day on Tuesday in the ancient Bethlehem church where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminating the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filling its overflowing halls.
I agree, that Jesus possibly never existed, and Bethlehem was hardly even a town at the time, but I'm kool with the concept, and the story of the baby born in the manger is fun to tell the children.
Jesus' nativity is not described in the letters of Paul, (the oldest spiritual literature in the new testament), nor in Mark, (the earliest Gospel about 40 years later), but first appears in the second oldest Gospel of Matthew. There are a lot of inconsistencies between the very descriptive narratives of Matthew and Luke. The stories seem to be designed for the 1st century religious mindset.
Bethlehem means house of bread. 'Beth' also is the second term in the word 'Alphabet'. Alphabet is a Greek mispronounciation of the Phonecian term Aleph-beth, which literally means 'Ox-House'. Aleph and Beth were the first two letters of the Phonecian alphabet (also the first fully phonetic alphabet). The Aleph (Ox) was originally an upside down A which pictured the face of an Ox with horns, and the Beth was a slanted b which pictured a house on a hill.
The world owes so much to these ancient creative developements in the middle East. I only hope they escape from their modern woes.
Merry Christmas!
There is historical accounts of the historical Jesus outside of the Bible, and hate to put down you doubters but read Josephus and you will see accounts of him written by a historian who lived in the period and had no interest in promoting Christianity other then to mention it as a historical item. You might wish to research before you start writing people off as fiction.
The bible does not specifically say when he was born.
Tbenton
In the beginning the Christians didn't want Christmas. Christmas is a Pagan holiday.
Merry Christmas, and may no GPS location make you believe you are better than others...If Jesus was born, he was born in our hearts not a GPS location. All men are equal in Santa's eyes....Santa was born from the same hearts that Jesus was..
Cpt jaack, The calender has changes a couple of times since his birth and one was adjusted to be the time frame of is birth. Do your history.
Flavius Josephus was a historian
His writings on heyZeus have been found to not be his
But the Censorship the good christians carried out after gaining Power
In 300 BCE
Hey-Zeus is built on the life of Yeshu'a Bar Joseph
Who instructed his followers
To take not what was Holy before Dogs
Dogs= Gentiles, Heathens, You
And they obeyed!
Celebrating someones birth day on a specific date is irrelevant. Just as what day you keep the sabbath it doesnt matter , its about entering Gods sabbath. It doesnt matter what day or time of the year when Jesus was born, its just a time of the year we celebrate it. OF course it wasnt during december, and even though we cant pick an exact date there are many historians who guesstimate based off of other text in the bible and shepherds tending flock which is only certain times of the year, or certain stars that would be around at that time , or any other event taking place can give you kind of a time frame.
As for his existence , please dont go there. Even atheist historians accept there was a man named Jesus who lived in that time, that was the jesus in the bible. Now you can debate his divinity, but not his existence.
The man
Who christians used for their evil purposes
Was
Yeshu'a Bar Joseph ( Yeshu'a son of Joseph)
Yeshu'a translates to Joshua
But Latins (Rome) the name Hey-Zeus fit their pornography
Rogerbeard,
I have been teaching about this in college for years, where are you getting your enlightenment and knowledge from? I do not mind a good debate, but to make up nonsense makes you lose all credibility and in the end nothing you say matters.
Like it or not there was a historical Yeshua, you have a right to decide if he was more then a man but in a court of law the evidence would support that he actually existed.
College and can not read
Yeshu'a lived
He did not die on the cross
He was very wealthy and paid Pontius Pilate a bribe
He was given cocaine and vinegar ( what heathens, Gentiles refer to as gall)
His legs were not broken
which causes suffocation from the weight of the body on the diaphragm
never studied anatomy or history
James , Yeshu'a younger brother took over the followers of Yeshu'a
Had Paul summoned back to the Temple of Yaweh after he heard what he was preaching in Rome
Paul had the audacity to tell Yeshu'a brother James that Yeshu'a was the son of Yaweh
Sent Paul to be stoned
Paul claimed Roman citizenship ( his father was Roman) and avoided stoning which was a religious punishment
Peter murdered the two followers of Yeshu'a because they did not give their total inheritance to Yeshu'a
Fled to Rome to avoid murder charges
Followed Yeshu'a teachings to not take what was Holy before dogs ( Jewish term for heathens, Gentiles)
U read much teacher??
the firsat saint by the christians is Stephen a Jew
He saw Yeshui'a and touched the wounds went out and proclaimed Yeshu'a as the son of Yaweh and was stoned
Stoning was the thing ordered by Yaweh in religious matters
If someone prophetize stone them
If they speak the Truth they will Live
If they lie they will die
Stephen Died
So now we are supposed to believe a idiot who was not there over people who were actual witnesses. I do not know where you are getting your facts from, but next time you really might wish to try something other then the National Inquirer.
Peace and goodwill to all. God bless.
A short pictorial of Bethlehem. Merry Christmas.
http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/12/a-special-feature-for-our-christian.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IsraelsHistory-APictureADaybeta+%28Israel%27s+History+-+a+Picture+a+Day+%28Beta%29%29
Actually, this Associated Press story is little more than formula Israeli disinformation, as is an Israeli-produced photo package titled: "daily picture...special-feature-for-our-christian...Israels History...Israel%...a+picture+a+day."
The facts of Bethlehem are quite different. Bethlehem now looks like a prison. Israel has surrounded the town with s 55 foot high concrete wall, complete with guard towers. Israeli troops control the entry of every person into Bethlehem.
Israel and its US followers, and the AP, which for years has been notorious for its pro-Israel slant, want you to see images of smiling, happy Christians celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem. In fact, the oppressive Israeli occupation and prison-like control of Bethlehem since the wall has caused the Christian Palestinian population to dwindle drastically. [CBS 60 Minutes]
Israel began constructing the wall in 2002. Still under construction, it is expected to span over 700 kilometers (435 miles); 85 percent of its length will be built within the Israeli occupied West Bank itself. According to the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, when completed the wall will annex 530 square kilometers (205 square miles) of Palestinian land, equivalent to the area of Chicago, the United States' third largest city.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the separation wall was illegal under international law and advised Israel to stop building it, to compensate Palestinians for damages, including those living in Bethlehem, and dismantle its existing sections.
Israel has ignored that ruling, and the wall is being built by an Israeli company, Elbit, using US-made construction equipment and subsidized by US taxpayers. As a reward for building Israel's illegal wall, Elbit has also been awarded a lucrative contract by the US government to build the separation wall between the US and Mexico, to provide security systems for that wall, and even to fly drones in the vicinity of the wall that conduct surveillance on US and Mexican citizens who live nearby. Your tax dollars and mine at work.
That's the real story of Bethlehem and Israel's wall that surrounds it at Christmastime 2012 that the AP carefully did not report.
Thank You Jesus for dying for our sin, regardless of the date you were born!!!!
Thanks for your post that acknowledges Jesus, our Savior. Its too bad that we cannot reach liberal democrats that deny Him, but we will keep trying...
Is it ONLY the democrats that don't believe?
I am neither Democrat or Repub and i will quickly tell you god is one of the biggest lies ever carried out on mankind.
Then why the interest in this article???
If man worships God, who did the dinosaurs worship? GODzilla?
No Starbuck, it's only the Republican Tea-baggers that conduct their lives in a manner that indicates disbelief.
Good thing we have a muslim for president that attended a "Not God bless America, but God damn America" church that worships the Black Panthers.
good thing we have racists like spybammy, otherwise we might truly realize our potential as a human race
Hey, someone has gotta stand up for whites...... I mean, we dont have the National Association for the Advancement of White People, or the United White Peoples College Fund, Or the White Entertainment Network..... or the Miss White America beauty pagent....., nor do we have a president that encourges us to lay up and collect welfare without any type of work, maybe we should??
get out and get a job at Walmarts Spybammy... they're always hiring and they give you a form to apply for federal food stamps in your orientation packet.
First
There was
Zeus
And then we
have
Hey-Zeus
Firstr there was the Creator
Who Created Man
And then
there is Hey-Zeus
Man's attermpt at creating god
It would be so nice and peaceful in the middle east if we could just get rid of the troublemaker muslims
It would be so nice and peaceful in the middle east if we could just get rid of the troublemaker ________________<insert ethnicity, religion, political affiliation>.
just making it fair..
spy4 bullsh*t the jews are the problem and have been for thousands of years
It would be so nice and peaceful in the middle east if we could just get rid of the troublemaker __Rag Heads______________. just making it fair..
I dont see the jews lobbing rockets at little children every day.... do you? And i loved it when the rag heads attacked Israel and got their asses handed to them..... the only thing that pissed me off is when they gave some of the land back they won fair and square in the war... They should have kept it all, and not paid any attention to the US, and took over Egypt too... Then we would not have the "Muslim brotherhood" (obamas buddys) terrorizing the country now......
I may be jumpy today I usually am at Christmas. Today my heart and thoughts goes out to the families in Netwon CT. I know what its like loosing a love one near Christmas as my father died on Christmas Eve when I was a teenager, 32 years later and its never been the same. No matter how hard you try to put it out the thoughts are still there and it gets worse at the holidays. These families are going to be having a hard time through every holiday season.
well said. these families are the first thing I thought of this morning. I hope they know that we care about them and that they are not alone...
Merry Christmas to everyone,even the unbelievers, Jesus truly did ,and still does exist and he sends his love to all.
Merry Christmas to you but there is absolutely no proof if he existed or not. You believe he did because its what you believe and I believe something different so that makes me a bad person?
Most Christian holidays are taken from the Pagans to meet them half way for easier conversion to Christianity. Christianity didn't really exist until about the 4th century or so.
According to Acts 11:26 the followers of Christ were first called Christians in Antioch. This was while Peter was still alive which was in the first century.
I didn't catch the typo there until it was to late I meant the last sentence to say Christmas didn't really exist until about the 4th century probably in the 3rd.
Peter the scariji (one who carries a knifew under his robe to stab and run in a crowded place)
Who murdered the two followers of Yeshu'a who refused to give their full inheritance to Yeshu'a and Peter killed them and fled to Rome ( murder was punished in Israel)
That the Peter follower of Yeshu'a Bar Joseph
Who never forgot Yeshu'a saying to not take what was Holy before Dogs=Gentiles, heathens, You
Overcome evil by doing good,by giving life,even by giving life by not killing life in wars.
Man is not God,so man should not take God's power of life and death,it belongs to God,when man does he kills the innocent along with the guilty as in wars.Wars kill innocent children,and innocent fetuses,even by mistake or by accident.The Bible says God doesn't kill the innocent,and God doesn't make mistakes or commit accidents,so the power of life and death belong only to God.To God all life is precious and sacred,but to man not all life is precious and sacred,even as evidenced by wars.God has reserved the power of life and death to Himself,He Created all life,and He has appointed man once to Die.God said if man eats the forbidden fruit,he will surely die,but Satan lied when he said man will not surely die if he eats the forbidden fruit,so death entered the world.Satan has been a liar from the beginning.It's Satan's lie that man can kill evil in wars of guns and bombs,man has a soul and a spirit,and both are eternal,so wars can't kill an evil soul or spirit of a man.And wars can't kill the sinful nature of man as God will raise the dead and Judge man,even for his wars,as Isaiah 2:4,man won't war ever again.
So anyone who follows a different religion is wrong. What if their right and your wrong? What if none of this actually matters at all? What if the beings we call the God(s) were actually alliens teaching us how to live? Without the tools we have today engineers are still confused how the pyramids were built.
If all religions lead to God then everyone who follows their religion will end up in heaven but if Christianity is right then the rest of the religions are wrong because Jesus says in John 14:6, I am the Way, The Truth, and The Life, No ONE comes to The Father except through Me. Every religion can't be right.
What if you're wrong, and Christianity is wrong, and Jesus is not god or the savior, what would happen to christians then?
Funny how christians claim Christmas as a christian holiday when in fact it is based on Saturnalia a roman pagan holiday but then again They claim marriage as a christian only. I just find it funny that in the 21st century people still think there is some magical being that controls everthing LOL what fools
I feel for those who refuse to believe in Jesus.
I feel for those who do believe in him because they are so weak minded they think some zombie is going to save them from all the evils in the world.
Praise God for giving man kind Jesus to come in this evil world, so he could die for our sins.
Jesus put God first,and as Christians we put God first as Jesus the man did,so we are also putting Jesus first who is God.Peace on earth and good will toward man is for all year round,not just for one day today.Every day is a day for Salvation,and wars of guns and bombs can't save you,not even individual wars men have against each other-only Christ's Cross can save mankind,and only means not anything else.Wars make widows and orphans of children,and even kill children,and Jesus says if you do it to one of the little children you do it to me.Remember,Media glorifies wars,every country's Media does it. Jesus criticized the religious leaders of his day as turning as many away from God as they do to God.Man takes God's power of life or death as in wars and turns as many away from God as to God,even when he kills many to save many,when the Bible teaches that all life is precious and sacred to God,not just certain life,not just some life,but all life.
God has authority over all flesh,and Galatians 6:7-8,Be not deceived,God is not mocked,for whatever man sows,man reaps.Sowing to the flesh,reaps of the flesh,destruction,sowing to the Spirit,God's Holy Spirit,reaps eternal life.Wars of guns and bombs sow to the flesh,and reap destruction,sow to God's Holy Spirit,and reap eternal life in God's Kingdom,for as Isaiah 2:4,says,he,Jesus,God,will fulfil all the prophets,and the prophet Isaiah and Isaiah 2:4,God will Judge nations,and rebuke people,and beat swords to plowshares,and spears to pruning hooks,and nation will not lift up sword against nation,neither will they learn war any more.So wars are of man's sinful nature his flesh,and so wars are not of God,but of men,of the flesh and the devil.
The article states "After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers".
Why no mention that the "West Bank attackers" are the "Palestinians" or "Muslim terrorists" (which is the reason the barrier is necessary)?
Also the reason attendance is up this year is due to the lower incidence of terrorism, due to both the "barrier" and the recent incursion into Gaza, which itself was in responce to missile attacks into civilian population by the same "Palestinian/Muslim terrorists">
Why no mention that the "occupiers" are "Israelis" or "jewish terrorists" who cause all the grief for Palestinian christians and non christians? Why no mention that jews stealing their land is the reason Palestinians attack?
We don't buy Israeli propoganda anymore.We fight wars all over the world for our own interests, and yet we expect the Palestinians not to fight for their land or freedom.Yeh, we're honest brokers alright.Merry christmas to all of you Palestinians.May you live in peace on the land that Christ killers stole from you.
It is really to bad that the non believers in this forum can not let the attacks on Christianity go for a few days. Why oh why do you people do this is it because we do not respond like some other religions. Take your atheist attitude somewhere else, you are just upset that you have no religion or days off, now if that is the case why do you have time to post after all atheists do not have holidays so get back to work.
Have a very Merry Christmas
Never mind I will pray for you
JAEK, I'm not Religious but I don't belittle anyone who is. No I'm not a Devil whorshiper either. Yes I believe that there was a man named Jesus that walked this Earth. It would be nice if people had good will to man and there was peace on Earth but that is not the way it is. So I guess that we all deal with it in different ways. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Jaek your post only shows what a moron you are.Atheists have no holidays???You do know that Christmas is based on a roman pagan holiday called Saturnalia i suggest you put down that book of fairy tales and educate yourself.
I am glad i am not so weak minded that i need religion to get by from day to day.I celebrate Christmas as a holiday of giving while avoiding the bull@!$%# religious aspects chirstians have tried to claim is what Christmas is all about.
So Jaek since your such a good Christian and all and Christmas is a LOL Christian holiday what good have you done this year for someone in need?????Most likely like all so called Christians nothing but pass judgement on others. As for me i did the same thing i do every year pick 3 to 4 needy children from Angel Tree and make sure they have a good Christmas.
christians = dogs=IQ=Ziltz point sh-t squared=about three points below rock
i feel it is a better way not to make a plastic baby in the image of Jesus to represent the God of our existence.
in asia that's what i like to call idolatry... which was forbidden for the children of Israel
Jesus didn't intend on being the heavenly host of idol worshipers.
it's time we as a mixed babylonian esque state of citizens reevaluate the relevance that midieval europian influence had on hebrew scriptures
as a christian... do you have any enemies? muslims? jews? buddhists? hindus?
taking from Jesus perspective... temptation is the enemy, a lack of sense control and disobedience is an enemy of a christian... pride is an enemy the same as worry in the form of insecurity and bigotry.
as a christian you should be fearless and self assured as you are a strength to the world around you rather than a weakness.
not afraid of the world events taking place and never doubting God is in control of his creation that has turned it's face in shame from God.
surely we hate wickedness in every form as it takes place in the world if it be as violence or rape or financial manipulation.
hypocracy is also a great sin that may flurish in our world.
Merry Christmas ... especially to all of you atheists.
for the sake of money
jesus was betrayed by his own
today we have war because men cannot figure out a way to live side by side without the fear of mankind itself.
because man craves and broods in human compulsion. the depths he is willing to go only for the sake of the nervous ambition to conquer his rivals.
he will create hunger and malnutrition, anarchy and dissent, hysteria and discrimination
obsession only for the simple minded
if you don't love you enemy and have no sympathy for even one made in the likeness of Jesus
how do you know God?
maybe you are the enemy?
when do you stop inviting the enemy?
playing the part in a competition and typecast within your own constructs of social interaction
out and about i'd have to say i've met more than a few people who would take the liberty to cast a shadow of disapproval over israel for their relations between borders...
and many in the same breath who would defend the assad regime's right as a sovereign nation
bias, favoritism and outright contempt is the light that dimly leads many of us into direct conflict
the same as cain killed his brother for the sake of jealousy...
he would not be made content with his work and could not ask of himself a better offering
and so here... in the wealthy united states of america... whose citizens are lavished with opportunity and outright laughter in the face of true poverty... we have jealousy the same...
There is no heaven
Promised by God
To His Chosen People
A prosperous life is promised
Only christians and Moslems
Teach that Heaven awaits its followers
If you find yourself in line while god reads from his book of judgement on each soul
Keep going to the back of the line
it will take a couple million years to you finally get to the head of the line
The Creator
Instructed His Chosen People
On the day they were to worship Him
The construction of the places of worship
No paqgan images (Pagan means Man-Made)
U know like crosses wit humans nailed to it
Pictures, pretty painted windows
Hey-Zeus never said anything about either
christians decided they would worship on which day
and they just love Pagan-Images
Look at the image of the creep on this page
self-righteous
countiong the money in his flock's pocketsw
He Looks Evil