By the will of the Father, Mary was created as a tabernacle, not made by human hands, but according to God’s will.

 

By the will of the Father, Mary was created as a tabernacle, not made by human hands, but according to God’s will. The ark was created to transport God’s Law, and for this reason it was a reason for reverence, joy and celebration. The people understood that the Lord was there. David exclaimed before it: “How can the ark of the Lord come to my house?” (2 Sam 6:9). The ark spent three months in a Jewish home, after being welcomed with great celebration: dancing, joyful shouts and festive songs, because the presence of the Lord was there and this was a blessing for the entire welcoming family (2 Sam 6:10-11). It is possible to see the connection established by Luke between these texts and Mary’s encounter with Elizabeth, which provokes an exultant reaction in both Elizabeth and her son, who “leaps for joy” (cf. Is 54:1) in her womb. Mary’s presence is a sign of God’s presence, Mary as the new, exclusive ARK of God, who presents herself as the fulfillment of the messianic promises and, ultimately, as heaven on earth.

5. Mary was conceived by God as the Kecharitomene, graced in the full sense, to be the mother of saving Grace. Elizabeth does not “see” her cousin Mary, but the Mother of the Lord. That moment expresses only the action of God’s grace, the presence of the Spirit and, therefore, a manifestation of faith. The enchantment manifested by Elizabeth reveals what is expected of the ancient people of God, but also the enchantment of the entire Church for the mystery of God in the life of Mary, who was made an enchantment of God. Mary’s entire being expresses this truth. That is why the song of God’s little ones was well placed on Mary’s lips: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.” Mary’s entire being is a CHARM for God. She is proclaimed “Blessed” because she believed (Luke 1:45). In the Gospel of Luke, this is the first beatitude, marked not by vision but by total adherence “because she believed.” In John 20:29, Jesus states: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” There is no doubt that Mary is what all Christians should be in relation to Jesus. Mary is called BLESSED by Elizabeth and BLESSED in the Magnificat, expressions that leave no doubt about the assumed life of the Virgin Mother of God. The text is clear: it does not say that she will be blessed, but that she IS, in the present, Blessed, and that, from now on, all generations, all men and women, of all times, will proclaim her Blessed. Another detail: “for the Almighty has done GREAT things for me”: He has scattered the proud, destroyed the thrones of the powerful, exalted the humble, fed the hungry, left the rich empty, and helped Israel, His servant (…). Furthermore, He filled Mary with His GRACE, making her the mother of the New Israel, of the New Humanity, of the New People of God, of the New History. 6. Mary is the authentic sign of the New and Eternal Covenant. Her presence brought about a true transformation in the reality of Elizabeth, who was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Mary, full of the Spirit, bearer of the Eternal, grants Elizabeth the grace of perceiving the great newness, the promised One, the Messiah, already present in history, there in the womb of the Virgin. In the meeting of the women (the two Covenants), there is the meeting of two children, the Blessed One, the Savior, and his precursor, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” the one who, at that moment, represents the entire people of Israel. The child in Elizabeth’s womb rejoices when he feels the presence of the one he has been waiting for, and there he receives the Strength of the Almighty to carry out his great prophetic mission, that of being the greatest of the prophets by announcing, baptizing and pointing out the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord. 7. “My soul glorifies the Lord.” The “song of Mary” is actually taken from the Old Testament, a part of 1 Samuel 2:1-11 and some verses from the psalms. For many biblical scholars, it is a song composed after the Resurrection of Jesus, attributed, first of all, to the “virgin” Israel, according to its condition of poverty, humiliation and contempt by other nations. When the first Christians realized that Jesus was truly the expected Messiah, they had no doubts about the divine action in magnifying the “virgin” Israel, who would forever be called “blessed.” In the light of the Spirit of God, Luke understood that this was a song entirely focused on the reality of the “Virgin” (1:27), Mother of the Messiah, through whom God made himself present in the world. In Luke, there is no possibility of being the Mother of the Glorious God if she is not fully clothed with the same glory. Mary is currently what we will be (cf. LG 68). And are we capable of proclaiming that we are a delight to God? Are we joyful Christians? Do we really have faith? Is Mary, as the mother of the Lord, welcome in our home? Do we have doubts about her importance in the Church? Do we truly believe that Mary has always been elevated by God?