Holy Land Pilgrimage: Day 4

Thursday, May 4, 2023

A couple of days into this experience is a good time to reflect on tourism versus pilgrimage – and I think I did a little of both today. In each case, the traveler is seeking experience. Maybe a shorthand way of seeing the difference is by asking, who’s driving the experience?

The Franciscan Wedding
Church at Cana.

We began today going to Cana, which is mentioned a couple of times in John’s Gospel but is most famous as the site of Jesus’ first sign, turning water into wine at the marriage feast and saving the family from the excruciating embarrassment of having to shut down the bar. Not surprisingly, there’s a church marking the experience – in fact, at least two churches, one Orthodox and one Roman Catholic; and we visited the latter. It was interesting, another relatively modern church commemorating a moment in the faith story (and, in this case, apparently with a nice side-hustle as a wedding chapel). We also walked through ruins of previous churches underneath the current one. The highlight was supposed to be “the stone jar,” once promoted as the one remaining of the six water jars Jesus used in the miracle. But archaeological evidence showed it wasn’t from the right period nor made of the right material. Still, the church has signs directing pilgrims and tourists to “the jar,” as if you might actually find it. It felt a bit like P.T. Barnum’s Exhibition with its famous final feature: “This way to the Egress.” 

Who knew? 

It didn’t help that Cana, of course, is filled with shops selling Cana wine for visitors to take home. We visited Daniel Best Wine, which featured all manner of religious merchandise in addition to wedding wine. My favorite was the spray bottle of Shofar Odor Neutralizer, definitely an item from the Department of Who Knew That Was a Thing? To top off the tourist feel, the “site” of Cana is rather a mystery. According to a quick Google search, the spot we visited may have been where Jesus performed his first sign. Or not. Maybe it was just my breakfast not settling well, but I don’t think I was in a pilgrim’s mindset at Cana. All I could see was a tourist trap.

The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

Next, we went to Nazareth. The history is much clearer there, in that Nazareth has been Nazareth literally since Jesus was a boy. In his day, it was a two-bit crossroads, with maybe 200 people; and the larger nearby city, Sephoris, was probably where Joseph and his adopted son worked as tektoi, or craftsmen. The churches there mark the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, even more, the astonishing mystery that God chose to take up residence not just among us (other religions might claim that) but as one of us, the scandal of the Incarnation. So, the church is filled with images of the Virgin Mary, contributed from and reflecting the cultures of Christians around the globe. Also, as in Capernaum, there is archaeological evidence supporting the claim that the place being marked as holy actually was the house of Mary and Joseph. The physical church obstructs the historical site, but it also incorporates remains of five earlier worship spaces on that spot, paying architectural homage to millennia of devotion.

The American Mary at the Basilica
of the Annunciation.

To me, the pilgrim moment in that space was as much about the American-sourced Marian art as it was about the ruins of ancient worship sites. The piece reflects Mary as described in Revelation, the woman reflecting “the grandeur of God … like shining from shook foil,” as Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote.

Fr. Nael, rector of Christ Church
(Anglican) in Nazareth.

Also at Nazareth, we visited Christ Church, an Anglican parish, and heard from its rector, Fr. Nael. He described himself, and his identity, as a Christian, Arab, Palestinian, and Israeli citizen. In this context, that’s impossibly possible. He also talked about the work and growth of his parish, now at 500 members and becoming a leader in youth ministry in the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East. And he talked about problems with troublesome neighbors who won’t work with him to let churchgoers park in the street they share. He concluded with this: “Remember, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, not the peace talkers.’” I wanted to give him a hug. He’s doing good work in a really hard context, and he’s doing it with heart and faithfulness, serving as a true witness in a land where only 1 to 2 percent of the population is Christian (and God knows what small percentage of that 1 to 2 percent is Anglican).

The Church of the Transfiguration atop Mt. 
Tabor.

Then we drove up Mt. Tabor, said to be where the Transfiguration took place. It gives an amazing view of the Jezreel Valley, site of several Biblical battles, as well as Elijah’s slaying of 400+ priests of Baal. The mountain is honored as the site of God’s revelation of Jesus’ divine nature, as he joined Elijah and Moses on the mountain for the benefit of the no-doubt dumbstruck Peter, James, and John. 

There’s a church with beautiful mosaics, standing on the site of a Crusader church and Muslim military fortifications. Myself, I didn’t receive any direct revelations of the living God other than from watching people celebrating Mass in the Crusader ruins. It seemed a good way to help redeem the fruit of such an unworthy cause.

The synagogue at Magdala.

Finally, we went back to our hotel to see the ruins of ancient Magdala. It’s a marketplace and first-century synagogue, one of seven discovered from that time, with enough archaeological specificity to identify pools that would have been filled with fish for sale, as well as ritual pools (mikvah) for washing before taking part in synagogue activities. (The only use of the pools I witnessed came from a ritually pure frog with a rich sense of history.)

Roman road in Magdala, which 
must have seen its share of 
the disciples' feet.

The ruins include a street, so you really can imagine Mary Magdalene, or Jesus, or any of the disciples walking along that street as they came to the synagogue or picked up some mangoes or fish from the market. As our guide, Ranya, said today, “In Israel, the Bible moves from a black-and-white photo to a 3-D reality.” Yes, please. And thank you.

So, if the tension between tourism and pilgrimage is a matter of the traveler’s heart, I’d say my heart wasn’t quite right at Cana (though the kitsch didn’t help). But through the rest of the day? I think I did better at stepping back enough to let God to use those skills.