One evening, after serving at a Mass at Xavier University in New Orleans, I came out to my car to find that someone had left me a little gift.  In fact, all of the cars had a little gift on the windshield.  It was a Chick Tract.  If you’re not familiar with Chick Tracts, they are little comic books that purport to explain the Christian faith.  Many, many of them are decidedly anti-Catholic and are filled with distortions, conspiracies, hatred, and downright lies.  The particular one left on my car that night was “Why is Mary Crying,” which dealt with Mary’s supposed distress at all of the attention Catholics pay to her.

Of course, Catholics are not the only ones who are devoted to Mary.  The Orthodox Churches are as well.  Devotion to Mary and reverence for her and her role in salvation go back to the earliest days of Christianity.  Scripture itself is filled with devotion to Mary and acknowledgement of her role in salvation history.

Why?  Because when God decided to effect definitive salvation for human beings and reconcile them to Himself, He did so by uniting a human nature to the divine.  This is the essence of the mystery of the Incarnation.  This is what we are preparing to celebrate at Christmas.  And that human flesh that is united to the Second Person of the Trinity came from Mary.

Thus Catholics and Orthodox have always proclaimed and acknowledged the supremely important role of Mary in God’s plan.  If we are to acknowledge Jesus as come in the flesh, which all of New Testament tells us we must do in order to be children of God, then we must also acknowledge the importance of Mary.  To deny Mary is but one step from denying Christ. 

Our reading from the Gospel of Luke today shows us how intimately connected Mary is to the mystery of Jesus.  In fact, how could it be otherwise?  She is His mother.  There is no more intimate relationship for human beings, except that with God Himself. 

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb….”  This is reminiscent of a passage from II Samuel (6: 14-15):  “Then David, girt with linen apron, came dancing before the Lord with abandon, as he and all the Israelites were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.”

The Ark of the Covenant, of course, was the symbol of God’s real presence among His people.  In the case both of David and the yet-to-be-born John the Baptist, it is their realization that they are in the presence of God that causes them joy.

Just as the Ark was the sign of God’s presence under the Old Covenant, so Mary is now the sign of God’s presence under the New Covenant.  She is the new Ark.

Elizabeth, we then hear, is filled with the Holy Spirit and cries out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

She acknowledges the blessedness of both Mary and Jesus and exalts both of them.  Then she says, “And how does this happen to me, the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

This too reflects a passage from II Samuel (6: 9): “David feared the Lord that day and said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come to me?’” 

Mary carries within herself Jesus, the God-Man.  She brings God to His people in the new, unique, and definitive way.  She is the new Ark – and an even greater one than the old.

How exactly, I wonder, would we go about the business of acknowledging Jesus as Lord and worshipping Him as such without honoring Mary – the means by which He chose to come us?  It is not possible.

And it is not Scriptural:  “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”  That is Luke, chapter 1, verse 28, the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to her.

“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  That is Luke, chapter 1, verse 42, Elizabeth’s greeting to her. 

“Holy Mary, Mother of God….”  That is the essence of the statement of the Council of Ephesus in 431.  That affirmation of Mary as Mother of God had to be made, because of who Jesus is: true God and true Man.

“Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”  Recognizing her singular role in God’s plan and the intimate connection with her Son, our Savior, we acknowledge her ability to assist us.  That only makes sense – she already assisted humanity by saying yes to the Angel Gabriel’s message.  Why would she stop?