Episode 1 – The desert and the heart

The first stage of the podcast In the footsteps of Scripture: a travel diary in Jordan between the Old and the New Testament takes us to the desert of Wadi Rum, in the south of the country.

It is here that the group of around thirty pilgrims begins its journey, marked by visits to places that bear witness to the history of salvation narrated in the Scripture. The pilgrimage sets out in the territory of ancient Edom, whose forefather was Esau, the brother of Jacob.

Travelling in six off-road vehicles, the pilgrims experience the awe of crossing a desert marked by countless shades of red. Accompanying them is the biblical scholar Father Francesco Giosuè Voltaggio.

“This passage is fundamental," Father Voltaggio explains, "because in this place Edom, that is Esau, Jacob’s brother and therefore his descendants, the Edomites, brothers of the Israelites, say to them: ‘You shall not pass through here.’ It is the enmity between brothers. Therefore, we made a meditation precisely on this essential point: the harshness of brother towards brother, that is two twins who are adversaries but who one day will be reconciled.”

The stage concludes with a meditation at sunset in the desert on a passage from Deuteronomy, followed by a night spent in Bedouin tents. This episode also features the testimony of pilgrim Costanza Samuelli Buscaglione.