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,
“Most 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?
In the Gospel reading of Mary's visitation of Elizabeth Mary is presented as the new and definitive ark of the covenant. The language describing her journey paralleled that of David bringing the ark to Jerusalem. They both arose and went and then remained somewhere for three months. At the death of Uzzah who directly touched the ark David was struck with holy fear, saying "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" (see Second Samuel 6:9). Elizabeth experienced something similar in the presence of Mary, saying, "how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?". David leaped and danced before the ark and John the Baptist leaped in the womb of Elizabeth.
It was said that the original ark contained the rod of Aaron, manna from the exodus journey, and the stone tablets of the covenant. But the new ark contained the one who was himself the living word of God, bread from heaven, and one destined to rule all nations with a rod of iron.
God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
In Revelation we see that the ark of the covenant was revealed to be a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch to believe that this too was a reference to Mary the mother of God considering the connections that we have already made. Even if we accept the tradition that Mary did not experience the pains of childbirth, these labor pains could be seen as a reference to the suffering that she herself would experience as Jesus endured his passion to redeem the world. If so, they were another way to describe that sword that Simeon prophesied would pierce her own soul (see Luke 2:35).
What was the point of the ark? No doubt it was lovely. But it did not exist merely for its own sake. The sanctity that was problematic for Uzzah was not simply because of the physical ark, but rather, what it represented: the presence of God. And this was even more true of Mary who brought the presence of God to Elizabeth in a way that Elizabeth had never known before. Presence such as that had never been known in the history of the world until Jesus took on flesh in Mary's womb.
Even after the birth of her son, Mary desired to help others encounter her son and experience his presence. We see this, for instance, in the wedding at Cana. We see it historically in the many apparitions of Mary, in which her message was only always pointing to Jesus. This is particularly evident to us today as we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. When missionaries could not seem to find a way to reach the Mexican people with the Gospel of Jesus Mary herself intervened and reached them.
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day
Today we are invited to discover the reason Mary, daughter Zion, had to rejoice. It was precisely because God was coming to dwell among us, as Zechariah wrote. Mary will not rest while we take this reality for granted but will continue to bring the presence of Jesus to our world until all peoples join her song of praise.
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