Commentary for Sunday 1/27

Sunday 1/27

Depart Jerusalem for Galilee. Nablus and Jacob's Well, lunch in Sebastia , Mass in the ruins of St. John the Baptist's tomb. Drive to Galilee.

Today with a heavy heart we leave Jerusalem. I cannot believe I have become so attached to this city. I could spend weeks, months maybe even years here studying the history and breathing in my faith. Onward to Jesus ministry which took place in the relatively small area of Galilee. Our first stop in Nablus takes us out of Jerusalem and into the Palestinian occupied West Bank. We have no difficulty entering, leaving the West Bank can be tricky.

Nablus. We are now in Samaria, sound familiar? Sebastia was the Roman name for the ancient city of Samaria, founded in 876 BC by Omri who after the death of Solomon broke away form Judah. His son Ahab, husband of Jezebel made the city a center of idol worship and corruption. It was destroyed in 722 BC by the Assyrians and it's inhabitants (the ten lost tribes) were exiled. It was rebuilt by Alexander the Great and during the Herodian and Roman periods was a flourishing city. Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal flank Nabuls. These mountains have biblical significance in that as soon as Joshua entered the Promised Land, he "built an altar unto The Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal...and wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses" (Joshua 8:30-33). On the border of Mount Gerizim is the Well of Jacob, dug by the Patriarch over 3000 years ago. It was at this well that Jesus met the Samaritan woman. And it was at this well he began his teaching of the living water. Jacob's well is preserved in the crypt of an Orthodox Church currently maintained and protected by Fr. Ioystinos and Jamal. This spot has a violent history over the years, yet the Orthodox Church has retained custody of it. Fr. Ioystinos is an artist who paints incredible icon art. All the artwork in this church has been painted by Fr. Ioystinos, it is a real treasure.

We had lunch is Sebastia or Sabastiya. A very gracious muslim family made a traditional meal for us. William's favorite part was dessert called Konafa. I have been told that I need to learn how to make it. It was delicious!

Last but certainly not least we had Mass in the ruins of the church built over the tomb of St. John the Baptist. This particular spot has not been open to visitors until recently. The area is 99% muslim, one christian family maintains the site. We were able to have Mass here in the open air of the ruins. It is our understanding that this is the third Mass to occur in 1000 years. We were able to go down into the tomb and then to the adjacent ruins of Sabastiya originally founded by Herod the Great in 25 BC, these ruins are from the first phase of the Roman period, 2nd Century AD.

Another incredible day filled with too much history to reiterate in this blog. Every footstep a piece of history!