March 13, Fifth Sunday in Lent (RCL) John 12:1-8, Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

A two-room house in Bethany today, similar to the one in which Mary anointed Jesus

Bethany
Bethany, Jesus home away from home when he was in Jerusalem because there dwelt his buddies, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, is difficult to visit because of the current separation wall between Israel and the West Bank which artificially cuts off a natural suburb of the city. It can be reached with effort and the Tomb of Lazarus (John 11) has some claims to authenticity. St. Jerome records the existence of a church here in 390. The original entrance was turned into a mosque because the Muslims venerated the raising of Lazarus and at first permitted Christians to visit. When this became increasingly difficult, the Franciscans cut the current entrance to the tomb between 1566 and 1575, and created the current church and monastery in 1954. In the church courtyard, the mosaic is of the fourth-century church and the pillars of the fifth-century church. Toilets are to the far right. The original entrance to the tomb of Lazarus (visible inside) faces toward the mosque and church (east). The lovely modern church is an appropriate place to read Luke 10:38 ff., John 11, and John 12:1-8.