Have you ever known someone who you just couldn’t figure out until you met one of their parents? This could have been a significant other, where you meet her Mom and say to yourself, “oh, that’s why my girlfriend does that.” Or you meet a friend’s Dad, and you say to yourself, “oh, that’s where he gets it from. Now, I get it.” I think the same is true of Jesus. The better we understand Jesus’ mother, the better we come to understand and appreciate Jesus himself.
The story we just heard about Mary visiting Elizabeth provides some insights into who Mary is. This story of two women, one still a virgin and the other too old to conceive, both expecting a child may be familiar to many of us, but this is just half the story. In order to fully understand who Mary is and what is going on here, we need to know the backstory.
The backstory begins with King David and the Ark of the Covenant. If you’ve read the Old Testament or if you’ve ever watched the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, you may remember that the Ark of the Covenant was a box that contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the manna the children of Israel ate in the desert after the Exodus, and the rod of Aaron the priest. The Ark of the Covenant was God’s special dwelling place on earth.
In the Old Testament in Second Samuel Chapter 6, we hear about David and the Ark of the Covenant. We hear that David went to the hill country of Judea. In the Gospel reading from Luke today from the New Testament, Mary had just heard from an angel that she would become pregnant with the son of God who would receive the throne of David, and then we hear that Mary went to the hill country of Judea.
In the Old Testament, when David encountered the Ark of the Covenant, he leaped with joy. In the New Testament, we hear today that John the Baptist leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb when he encountered Jesus in Mary’s womb.
In the Old Testament, David says “how is it that the Ark of the Lord has come to me?” In the New Testament, Elizabeth says to Mary “how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” This profession of faith that Mary is the mother of her Lord and the implication that Jesus is her Lord makes Elizabeth the first person to make this Christian profession of faith.
In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant stayed in the hill country for three months. In the New Testament, Mary stayed in the hill country for how long? Does anyone remember or have a guess? … Yes, that’s right for three months. I could go on more with this, but I think you see the parallels and similarities. It’s almost as if someone planned it.
When we see Mary through ancient Jewish eyes, we discover Mary is much more than just the mother who happened to give birth to Jesus. The Gospel writer Luke wants us to understand Mary fully as the new Ark of the New Covenant. Mary is the special dwelling place of God on earth. In Mary is the Word made flesh, the true bread from heaven, and the true priest: Jesus. Yes, it’s God who gives us this great gift of his son and Mary who delivers this gift to us.
When we see Mary through ancient Jewish eyes, we see her more fully the way Jesus sees and loves Mary; intimately as a child in his mother’s womb and fully as someone who knows she is beautiful inside and out, and knows the important role she plays in salvation history. Mary after all is the most influential woman in all of human history.
We are meant to journey into a more intimate relationship with the woman who gave birth to the son of God. The amazing thing for us is that Mary’s story is connected to our own story. When we come to more fully know our mother, we discover more about who we are and what we are meant to do.
We can discover this by reflecting on this question: where the Ark of the Covenant is today? Some say the Ark of the Covenant is in the faraway town of Aksum in Ethiopia. Others say it’s in a cave in the mountains of Zimbabwe, but I think God’s special dwelling place here on earth is somewhere much closer to home.
We come here today to draw near to Jesus, to let our hearts and souls become a womb where Jesus can come and grow. At the beginning of today’s Gospel reading, we hear that Mary who was pregnant with Jesus sets out in haste. That’s because there is an intensity and purpose associated with her setting out. She can’t wait to share the good news of her son with others.
When Mary went to visit her elder cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist, John leaped for joy in the womb. When we set out from here today, we too are called to go out and announce the Good News of our Lord coming to be with us. We are meant to carry Jesus out to others so that those who we encounter may experience the joy of Jesus dwelling within us.
4th Sunday of Advent Time Cycle C – December 19, 2021
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Mi 5:1-4a
Psalm: Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Reading 2: Heb 10:5-10
Gospel: Lk 1:39-45