[ Today's Readings ]
Mary is the ark of the New Covenant. She is a vessel for God's own presence. We see intentional similarity in the language of today's gospel about Mary visiting Elizabeth to text about David and the ark.
"How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household (see Second Samuel 6:9-11).
To most people Mary would appear to be just a normal girl at this point. But Elizabeth receives a grace to see beneath the surface to the deeper spiritual truth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
We become partakers of this grace whenever we pray the Hail Mary with focus and sincerity. We realize more fully the truth that Mary is the ark of the New Covenant, somehow containing the uncontainable Son of God within her own body. She is the queen of heaven who stands arrayed in gold at the right hand of God. It is impossible for corruption to the body of Mary for the same reason that Uzzah is punished for touching the ark. It isn't so much about the vessel as what it contains.
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God (see Second Samuel 6:7).
Somehow, the grace to be an ark of the presence of Jesus is not given to Mary alone.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
She alone is sinless, but Jesus stills deigns to enter into our own hearts as well when we confess him as our LORD. Somehow, he even enters into our very bodies in the Eucharist. If we receive Jesus and allow him to abide in us he will lead us along the path that he blazed, the path on which Mary was the first to follow, the path to the kingdom of glory.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
Today let us look to the sign of the woman clothed with the sun and find in her the consolation of God's nearness to us. Being near to Mary is a blessing for she is always so close to her Son. To be with her is to be sure we're in the right place. In her love for Jesus she loves all of his brothers and sisters as well. She wants us all to share in her own proximity to Jesus because that is the very best treasure she has. She intercedes and makes the grace available so that all who fear him in every generation can become arks of his presence.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”
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