A New Day: A Journey of Faith

ISBN-13: 9781477664537 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 264 str.

Mary Ann Sciavillo-Lopez

Opis

A "New Day" begins in Galilee in AD 28. It is a fictionalized retelling of a New Testament story of a woman healed when she touches the fringes of Yeshua's cloak merged with the legend of the woman who wiped the bloody face of our Lord, on the path leading to His crucifixion, with her veil. Berenice is a Galilean woman inflicted with an incurable illness. She is exiled from her village of et-Tabgha by the urging of her hateful Aunt Chulda - her father's wife - and implemented by the local rabbi. Her loving father, Jacob, is unable to help his daughter. He fears the rabbi will punish Berenice and does not want to risk her being injured. The following day, Berenice meets a blind boy named Asa. He tells her of miraculous healings told to him of a Rabbi named Yeshua. Together, they venture out to find. The following night, Berenice is awakened by a bright light emitting from a vision of a messenger she believes is sent by Adonai. The being speaks to her heart and tells her of prophecy of life-changing events. Berenice and Asa receive word of Yeshua's whereabouts. Together they walk to the shores of the Galilean sea in time to discover the Rabbi arriving in a fishing boat. Because of the throng of people awaiting Him, Berenice and Asa are unable to get close enough to Yeshua and become separated by the thrust forward of the crowd. Berenice is pushed ahead and tumbles. Will she reach the Rabbi before He departs to receive His healing? Berenice decides to join the sisterhood of women disciples in service to Rabbi Yeshua and His disciples, as well as in the care of the growing number of new believers and the destitute. She returns to her father's home to tell him the good news of Rabbi Yeshua. Still shunned by her aunt Chulda, her family, along with and Asa, travels to Beth-saida to hear Yeshua preach. They are privy to His many healings and feeding of the multitudes. Will Chulda's hatefulness change upon witnessing the Rabbi? A short time later, Berenice departs her father's house in et-Tabgha and begins her new life's vocation at the home of disciple Simon Peter, near Capernaum. After many months pass, with Yeshua's ministry growing, hatred of Him mounts at the hands of the Pharisee and high priests of Yerushalayim. He is arrested and sentenced to die. While witnessing Yeshua's suffering on the path to His crucifixion, Berenice bravely runs out from the crowd to comfort Him. She offers her veil to wipe His blood-stained face. A Roman soldier, named Cyriacus, observes her bravery and rescues her before any other troops could reach her. Cyriacus makes a promise to himself, from that moment forward, he would protect her. Beholding Yeshua's preaching, death, and resurrection, three of the unlikeliest become close friends; the soldier Cyriacus, an orphan named Ahaz, and a young fisherman named Michael. They believe their life's work should also be affiliated with Yeshua's followers and seek out His disciples. Feelings between Berenice and Cyriacus develop, but she had made a vow to her Lord to never marry, in order to dedicate her life to the caring of widows and orphans. Cyriacus undertakes the same mission, allowing him to be near her in order to keep his promise of watching over her safety. Tension by the priest in Yerushalayim continues to grow toward Yeshua's believers. Many of the disciples and followers disperse to bring the word of their Lord to other lands. Berenice, along with many others, return to Capernaum to minister to the growing number of widows and orphans needing shelter. Having placed her veil, used to wipe the face of Yeshua, in safekeeping since the time of His death, Berenice is unaware of the transformation upon the cloth. Unraveling the veil, she is mesmerized by what is revealed. Is the cloth part of the prophecy told to her by Adonai's messenger? Where will Berenice's life lead her as the new faith of Christianity grows?