Testimonies

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The book of the genealogy
of Jesus Christ,
the son of David,
the son of Abraham.
[Matthew 1:1]
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(Author's note: 'matzo'
is the box of stuff in the
grocery store. The Christians
call it unleavened bread.)
__________________________
"Lord?"

"Yes, child?"

"When I was a little kid,
I thought Mary was a Saint....
who had a baby.....who was
a Saint, too."

[NOD.]

"There was that real pretty
Catholic church down the
next street."

"Yes, child."

"They had Mass on Christmas
Eve, and there were real
pretty lights. I used to rub a little
hole on my frosted window;
if I put my head all the way over
to the left, and peered through
my wet-nosed, frosty hole,
I could see all the Catholic
people going to the pretty
church."

[NOD.]

"Everything was lit up;
I could hear their bells ringing."

"Yes, child."

"It was always cold, and
usually snowy; I thought
it was something magical."

"It was, child."

"I didn't know who Joseph
was; on Christmas cards,
he never had a halo, like
Mary and her baby."

[NOD.]

"I thought Jesus was
always a baby.......who
was born on Christmas Day;
that was it."

"Who was God, child?"

"Eh........He was the
Lord...real Big and Scary,
eh, Who helped Moses
free the Hebrew slaves
......from the Pharaoh.
Then, He made everybody
eat matzo in the desert.......
Then, on Mount Sinai,
He gave Moses the Two Tablets.....
eh, The Ten Commandments;
then, Moses got real mad -
because of the
Golden Calf Party -
and broke Them. Then,
Moses went back up the
Mountain, and the Lord
gave him another set of Tablets."

[SOLEMN NOD.]

"Then, the Jews went up
to Poland......and, got into
some kind'a bad trouble....
then, they came to
Philadelphia.
(thoughtful silence)
That was it, Lord."

"Yes, child:
Philadelphia."

"Yeah........it was all because
of the Quakers....and, Billy Penn.
I thought Bethlehem was
some place in Switzerland;
on Christmas cards, there
was always big trees, and
a lot'a snow around. There
were Three Wise Men on camels,
but I had never seen a camel,
so I figured they could walk
in the snow, too."

[PATIENT NOD.]

"Then.......after I grew up,
somebody told me that
Jesus was Jewish.
I just laughed, and said,
'Where'd 'ya read THAT?
Wow, you guys are COPYcats!"

[SMILE.]

"Lord, I gott'a tell 'Ya:
Your followers aren't doin'
a very good job."

[SMILE.]

"Are YOU gonna' tell 'em,
or should I?"

[LAUGH]

"Merry Christmas, Lord."

[NOD.]
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So all the generations
from Abraham to David
were fourteen......
from David to ....Babylon.......
from .......Babylon to the Christ
fourteen generations.
[Matthew 1:17]

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In memories of St. Raymonds Church,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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