The Rocky Road to Bethlehem

We've learned that although our itinerary includes an "optional visit to Bethlehem," due to constraints placed on travel for citizens of Israel, our guide is not allowed to take us into the holy city, which lies inside territory that is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. They will take us to the checkpoint, but we will have to make our own way to and through the city once we've cleared the barrier. There is no animosity to or from our guide about this; she is simply obeying her country's law.
So, I've contacted the Holy Land Christian Ecumentical Foundation, and they will assist us when we enter the West Bank -- a hundred-thousand thanks to Father Rob Waller at St. Andrew Parish in Milford, Ohio, for helping me link up with HCEF before departure. We will arrive Monday morning at the checkpoint, and our friends from HCEF will take us into Bethlehem for a visit to the people at Beit Jala, which has a twinning relationship with St. Andrew/St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parishes in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. If time permits, a journalist from Atlanta will meet with a sister parish partner for that archdiocese in Bethlehem. Once again, I am amazed at the grass-roots power of these partnerships.
I will post comments on the visit Monday evening, Jerusalem time (should be on the web by late afternoon Eastern Time in the U.S.). A story and photos from the visit, if all goes as planned, will appear in a late March edition of The Catholic Telegraph.