Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
Mary didn't hesitate after the message of Gabriel proclaiming to her that she would give birth to the savior. She didn't sit and ruminate or worry. Instead she went in haste to help and to serve. No doubt she was always disposed to be helpful, but one might imagine that the infilling of the Holy Spirit that caused the conception of Jesus within her supercharged that virtue. As the presence of God within her transformed her into the ark of the New Covenant it was fitting that she would, like the old ark, go into battle, bringing joy and victory to friends of God like Elizabeth.
“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?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
The visit of Mary to Elizabeth intentionally paralleled the story of King David stopping with the ark at the household of Obed-edom on his way to bring it to Jerusalem. He and Mary both "arose and went" and remained about "three months". We hear another obvious parallel when David said, "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?"" (see Second Samuel 6:9).
When we realize that Mary was understood to be the ark of the New Covenant we are able to interpret our first reading from Revelation, recognizing that the ark of the covenant seen in the temple in heaven was in fact the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, that this figure was in fact Mary herself, who was indeed the one who "gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod". Some commentators insist that this woman represented only the Church or only Israel. But Catholics should trust their well-formed intuition to opt for both/and in this case.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Like Israel Mary was uniquely chosen, not for her own sake, but to be a blessing to others. Thus Mary herself, literally and historically, embodied Israel's vocation to bless the nations. She recognized that this blessing with which she was blessed by God was in fact available to all, because God "has mercy on those who fear him in every generation". Because she saw herself as a lowly servant, as poor, and hungry, she embraced fellowship, at least potentially, with all peoples. And it was this complete willingness to share the blessings she had received from the Lord that made her the living embodiment of the Church. We see her fulfilling this role at this cross when she took the beloved disciple to be her son. We see it too at Pentecost when she was present with the disciples, acting, as it were, as a midwife of the Holy Spirit being born in them.
Are we surprised by the special privilege of Mary, that she was assumed body and soul into heaven? It is amazing, to be sure, but it certainly tracks with God's protectiveness about the original ark and his desire to ensure that corruption never touched it.
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).
The assumption might have been harder to believe if it were not for others like Enoch and Elijah who had experienced something similar. Nor should we begrudge Mary her blessing because of jealousy that we likely won't have a similar experience. Her assumption was like the resurrection of Jesus Christ: firstfruits. It was something demonstrated at the midpoint of history in order to help us raise our hopes for that which will come to all at the end of time.
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
Just as David celebrated before the ark with songs and musical instruments so too should we celebrate for the blessings afforded to Mary, the one who is our mother, who brings the presence of Jesus to us.
The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
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