In Bethany, the community of the Custody of the Holy Land celebrated the memory of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, the friends of Jesus, at eh Franciscan shrine, also known as the “house of friendship, welcome and hospitality,” on 29 July.
Jesus often came here when we went from Jerusalem to the Galilee or from the Galilee to Jerusalem: he would stop here, in Bethany, which in his time, like today, was a suburb of Jerusalem, a small centre on the edge of the desert of Judea. In Arabic, the city is known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya, taking its name from Lazarus, the friend that Jesus resuscitated from death (John 11, 1-44).
The celebrations started in the early hours of the morning: the first mass was celebrated in the tomb of Lazarus and then the local community, together with the friars, were able to take part in the lauds and the second Eucharistic celebration (here is the link to the liturgical booklet)
The Mass was presided over by Fr. Michael Muhindo in the Shrine, rebuilt by the architect Antonio Barluzzi between 1952 and 1953 on top of the archaeological excavations carried out in 1949.
Hosting Christ, our consolation
Fr. Michael commented on the passage from the Gospel according to John 11, 19-27, underlining the historical and cultural context concerning Jewish customs during mourning. “The Gospel that we have just listened to for the feast-day of St Martha, St Mary and St Lazarus, who hosted the Lord, focuses on the topic of consolation,” fr. Michael emphasized in his homily. “Jesus goes to Bethany to console the relatives of his friend and on this occasion resuscitates Lazarus, as promised to Martha “Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live”: celebrating this event for us is an act of faith in Jesus Christ and recognizing that He is the resurrection and Life.”
“It is up to us,” he continued, “to know how to host Christ in the home where our heart is: we will perhaps have to wonder whether we still have time to sit down, like Mary, to listen to the Lord who comes to us with the words of consolation we need for everything that is happening in the world, and above all in the Holy Land.”
After the Eucharistic liturgy, the friars went again to Lazarus’s tomb for the visit and reading of the Gospel (John 11, 1-45).
The pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives
After leaving Bethany, the traditional peregrination continued to the Mount of Olives, to enter the Chapel of the Ascension, which could once be reached on foot but is currently blocked by the wall between Israel and Palestine.
In the small octagonal edicule, which houses the memory of the footprints of Jesus, the passage from the Gospel on this event (Mark 16, 15-20) was read. The celebrations came to a conclusion in the nearby shrine of the Pater Noster, commonly called the Church of the Eleona, where the Gospel according to Matthew (6, 5-13) was read, which recalls how Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer.
Silvia Giuliano
