The coming weekend marks the start of our Christmas celebration. Sunday is Christmas Eve, and churches all over our community will gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ twenty centuries ago in Bethlehem. They will read the Christmas story as told through the Gospel of Saint Luke in the second chapter. Luke learned this story from Saint Paul, for whom he served as a scribe, and dutifully recorded it in the third gospel. It is a magical story.
Two thousand years ago, western civilization was dominated by the Roman Empire. The Roman Senate called for a census to make sure every taxpayer was enrolled. Some things never change. The census was to take place in the birthplace of every male subject. An obscure carpenter from Nazareth in Galilee by the name of Joseph was required to travel south to the place of his birth, Bethlehem, the city of his ancestor, King David. With him was his betrothed, Mary, who was pregnant. This would have been a difficult journey of about 90 miles through very rough, mountainous terrain.