Day 7

Good Evening Friends,

Today we began our day on Mount Zion where we had Mass at the beautiful Franciscan Church honoring the upper room where Christ had his Last Supper with his apostles and where the Holy Spirit descended upon them at Pentecost. (Mt. 26: 26-29 & Jn. 20: 19-29) After Mass, we traveled to Jericho (Jos. 5:13-6:23) where we stopped at the location where Christ met Zacchaeus. (Lk. 19:1-10) We also were able to see the Mount of Temptation where Christ was tempted by Satan (Mt 4: 1-11) at the end of his 40 days in the desert.

Our next stop was to the mountaintop fortress of King Herod. We ascended the mountain via a cable car which gave us an incredible view of the Dead Sea and the surrounding area. This was the mountaintop fortress of King Herod where from 70-73 AD the Zealots made their last stand against Rome. While in the area, we also toured the excavations at Qumram, the home of the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls. St. John the Baptist was, at one time, a member of this community. This was an incredible site with a fascinating history,

Late in the day, we visited the Dead Sea. The salinity concentration of the sea is at least ten times more than any ocean or sea. The density of the water makes everything vey buoyant, and even those of us who can’t normally float did it with ease.

We ended our day as we began it with prayer and contemplation of all we have been blessed to experience.


Morning Mass at Church of the Cenacle next to the upper room.




Jericho sycamore tree similar to the one Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus.



Qumram cave where the first 7 Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a Bedouin boy in 1948. In the following 42 years, 800 additional scrolls were found.



Qumram, in the room where the Dead Sea Scrolls were written by the Essenes.



The cable car at Masada taking us to the top.




At the north wall of Masada overlooking the Roman camp below.




Isaac teaches us about the Zealots at Masada as we sit at the site of the oldest known Synagogue in existence.



View on Masada from King Herod's Palace overlooking the Dead Sea.


Penny cools off in the Dead Sea!