In Tarsus

This morning we left the Cappadocia region and drove all the way to Tarsus. We went through the only pass that exists from the North through the Taurus range of mountains to the region of Cilicia.
Tarsus is the birthplace of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, St Paul. What an experience it is to be here right were St Paul was born! St Paul himself describes Tarsus as "no mean city" (Acts 21,39). The Acts of the Apostles refers to Tarsus as Paul's hometown a number of times (9,11.30; 11,25; 21,39; 22,3). According to Acts, Paul left Tarsus and was educated in Jerusalem, studying under the famous Jewish teacher Gamaliel (22,3). After his conversion to Christianity, and he returned to Tarsus for a brief period prior to becoming the important missionary of the Christian church.
Here in Tarsus we went to visit the St Paul Memorial Museum. It serves only as a Church when some group of pilgrims comes over to visit. Until 1993 it served as a deposit for arms and ammunition! The Capuchin Friars worked hard to have some form of access to this building. Their efforts bore fruit!
Sr Agnes, superior of a Community of Nuns who are present here in Tarsus, spoke to us about their experience in Tarsus: "We do nothing because we are considered as nothing. It is a Church which respects those who have other beliefs. The Church in Tarsus is made up of only three members, that is the 3 nuns, members of the Figlie della Chiesa (Daughters of the Church). The Church is present in Tarsus because there is the Eucharist and the Sanctuary Lamp never blows out. We certainly did a lot of missionary work in South America and Italy but here we learnt to be missionaries rather than work as missionaries." She compared this with St Paul's own experience, when in Philippians 3, he states that considers everything he received by nature or through formation as "refuse, in order that I may gain Christ". She concluded by saying that "our mission here is our presence".
We celebrated our Eucharist in this Church. What a profound experience! This man, after encountering Christ our Lord, set out to evangelize the world. He received such a beautiful gift was ready to share it with others with so much zeal and love. The phrase I believe summarizes Paul's whole life, ministry and spirituality is found in Gal 2,20: "Christ ... who loved me and gave himself for me".
After Mass we visited also St Paul's well, which is held that it is were his home was. Archaeologists did find the remains of a house complex from the time of the Romans. However, it is almost impossible to be sure of this!
The guide, who is a Capuchin Friar was telling us that recently someone was filming in Tarsus preparing a documentary on St Paul. At the end of their work they interviewed an amount of people (some 50) whether they knew of St Paul. Most of them knew nothing of him. Some associated the name with the places in Tarsus, I mentioned already. Others (very few) said that he was a Christian. Nothing more! And St Paul is the most eminent citizen of this city!
One final note: today I've learnt also that St Paul had a sister and a nephew (see Acts 23,16).

Fr Jonathan Farrugia and myself with the Icon of St Paul at St Paul Memorial Museum in Tarsus.

Refreshing waterfalls in Tarsus.