GO TO GALILEE
The Spiritual Geography of the Gospels

Five Gospels record the life of Jesus. Four you will find in books and one you will find in the land they call holy. Read the fifth Gospel and the world of the four will open to you.

It is in a reflection on the land, so very much bound up with the religious and political history of Israel, that we will discover, not so much the letter as the spirit of the Word of God, and specifically of the New Testament. From the birth of Jesus in a cave in Bethlehem to his burial in a cave outside of Jerusalem, from his hidden life in the hills of Nazareth to his public life along the Sea of Galilee, from his Transfiguration on the Mount called Tabor to his Sermon on the Mount in Galilee and his Ascension on the Mount of Olives, from his forty day sojourn in the desert to his baptism in the waters of the Jordan — we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and let the land speak to us as it spoke to him two thousand years ago. In this intuitive and contemplative approach to the Scriptures, we enter into the mystery of the life of Jesus and find our faith increase. We begin to experience the meaning of things we had perhaps never understood before. Excitement builds within us and we can hardly wait to go forth praising God and spreading the good news that the One who died and rose again accompanies us on our journey now.

About the Author: In addition to a BA in Fine Arts from Rosemont College in Pennsylvania and an MA in Biblical Studies from Providence College in Rhode Island, Sr. Virginia Marie Butler, OP has a Certificate in Biblical Spirituality from the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago which she earned at the end of an academic year which included the study of Scripture and archaeology in Israel, Egypt, Greece and Turkey. She has had a variety of ministerial experiences as a Dominican Sister in parishes, residences for women, schools of adult education, retreat centers and houses of formation where she taught religion, art and Scripture, conducted weekend programs, edited retreat center newspapers and offered spiritual counseling to retreatants and students. This is her first book for Alba House.