The Brooklyn Papers / Dennis W. Ho

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You’d be forgiven for thinking you were in a different century — say, the first one — what with the live sheep, the shepherds, a woman named Mary gazing lovingly at her baby Jesus in a hay-filled bassinet.

But the Jesus was plastic. Electric floodlights beamed a divine halo onto the virgin, and a CD player blared Christmas carols.

So it wasn’t Bethlehem, Year 1, of course, but Bensonhurst, anno MMVI, as the New Utrecht Roman Catholic Church staged its 50th annual live nativity scene just a block and a half from the rumbling D train on 18th Avenue.

Anachronisms notwithstanding, the purpose of the nativity shone through.

“The nativity is the meaning of Christmas,” said Michelle Paradies, who played the Virgin Mary on the 5-6 pm shift at the 178-year-old cathedral. “Too many times people forget that, and it’s important to remind them.”

The manger scene used to last for a full week. This year, the crèche lasted only three hours on Saturday, from 3 to 6 pm.

“It’s too expensive to present a living nativity for more than a few hours,” said Robert Buonvino, president of Friends of Historic New Utrecht.

Still, for its short duration, the living nativity and petting zoo drew a large, and diverse, crowd.

Mohamed Amer, a Dyker Heights resident, and Muslim, played a shepherd in the live crèche.

“I’m here because of my wife,” he said, pointing to a woman playing the Virgin Mary during the 4 pm shift.

“She’s a vision,” he added, cracking a smile. His 19-year-old played Joseph, and his mother-in-law a shepherdess.

Carmela Salerno, the mother-in-law, wore blue and white robes, as did most of the cast, and carried a crook. And like all good mothers-in-law — from Biblical times to the present — she gave her son-in-law a hard time.

“You’re not controlling the sheep,” chided Salerno, as the bundles of wool ran from one toddler to another, each holding out a fistful of grass uprooted from the New Utrecht lawn.

For all of the living nativity’s emphasis on the enduring spirit of the original Christmas, there were plenty who embraced the modern holiday in its full, materialistic glory.

John Marra, 12, played a shepherd for his third year in a row, but he’s expecting more earthly pleasures come Christmas morning.

“This year, all I want for Christmas is money, so I can buy what I want,” said Marra, of Bensonhurst. “I’m trying to get new games for my PSP.”

Of course, there were those who were drawn to the crèche for more nostalgic reasons.

Greg and Ernie Schimizzi, brothers now in middle age, have been coming to the crèche for as long as they can remember.

“The face of Brooklyn has changed, it’s become even more diverse — and that’s a change for the better,” said Greg. “But this is a constant.”

©2006 Community Newspaper Group