By Monsignor John F. McDonough

Bethlehem is a love story so strong and unique, it has survived two thousand years. And it is a story that will continue to capture the hearts and minds of all who believe in the power of love.

The story of Bethlehem began long before the creation of the world, long before the sin of Adam and Eve; it began in the mind of God before time began. For God loved man so much, He had to share Himself eternally with man. And so He gave His only begotten Son to all of us. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."

Bethlehem is the love story of all those wonderful men and women whose glories and praises are sung and heralded in the parchments and pages of the Old Testament. The great and the mighty, the weak and the sorrowful. The heroes of history as well as the silent and the unknown, whose simple and pure love of God gave them the courage and the will to hope for the coming of the Messiah.

Bethlehem is the love story of John the Baptist, God's supreme messenger, the preparer of the way, the link between the old and the new.

Bethlehem is the tender love story of Mary and Joseph. The love that overcame all their doubts and fears and uncertainties. Together in love they made love's most wonderful and loving journey, the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem is the love story of the known and unknown: the shepherds, the magi, the unknown family that gave Mary and Joseph lodging for that holiest of nights.

Bethlehem is of course the love story of Jesus, true God becoming true man. A love for Man that will never cease but will grow in fire and flame until eventually all men will be consumed by it.

And finally, Bethlehem is the love story of all travelers who over the centuries have, like the Magi, made their way to Bethlehem to see, to feel, to know the joy of being where Christ was born.

Such a journey can begin anywhere in the world geographically -- but in reality it begins first in the heart of the traveler.

The immediate preparation for a visit to Bethlehem begins about two miles from there, in Shepherd's field. The field where the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds watching their flock by night, and sang the gloriously immortal hymn "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men of good will." Like the shepherds of old, today's traveler can look down the gently sloping fields and see the city of Bethlehem.

It isn't surprising that the angels appeared to the shepherds in this field. Tradition tells us that these were the fields of Boaz, where Ruth went to glean corn after the harvesters had passed. Bethlehem, the scene of the love story of Ruth and her devotion and loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi.

Bethlehem today is much different from the city of two thousand years ago. In Manger Square Falling, the Basilica of the nativity, there are the usual rows of shops and stores, of vendors and street urchins, hawking their postcards and slides and religious articles as the long lines of tour busses unload their curious travelers.

The history of the Basilica of the nativity is a sordid one. A history of violence, murder, plunder, fire, destruction, enmity, hatred. As different cultures, countries, religions, cults attempted either to make it a sanctuary of sacred peace or destroy it completely. Today, there is relative peace due in large measure to the armed guards who protect the Basilica.

At the present time, there is only one entrance to the Basilica. An opening about five feet in height and about two feet wide. Only one person can enter at a time and must step down to enter. As you enter, the Church of St. Catherine is to the left and the Basilica directly ahead. The Basilica itself retains some of its original columns and mosaics, but generally is not in good condition, due in large measure to a lack of a single religious control of the Church.

The grotto over the cave in which Jesus was born is about 25 or 30 feet below the main sanctuary of the Basilica. There has never been any doubt that this is the place where Jesus was born.

Today, because several religious denominations have control of the cave, Mass is not celebrated at the altar of the Nativity, the actual place of the birth of Christ. However, Mass is celebrated at the altar of the manger, the place where the Christ Child was laid after his birth. It was here the shepherds knelt in adoration. And here I was privileged along with several other priests to concelebrate Mass, to adore the Christ, to be a part of the greatest of all love stories.