Father Koch: Mary is the one who brings the Son into the world
December 22, 2023 at 12:16 p.m.
Gospel reflection for Dec. 24, 2023, Fourth Sunday of Advent
The peculiarity of the calendar leaves us with a Fourth Week of Advent that lasts twenty-four hours. Mary as the Mother of God, -- Theotokos – evokes for us most clearly the image of Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. The Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Here Luke sees Mary as enveloped by the shadow – or cloud – of the presence of God just as the Ark of the Covenant was clouded with the shekinah, or the cloud of the Glory of God. By thinking of Mary in these terms we are called to reflect on the meaning of Jesus.in the miracle of the Incarnation. Mary is the Ark precisely because Jesus is God.
This typology -- seeing in one image the glimpse of another -- is a common way in which Christians, particularly Catholics, read the connections between the two testaments of the Bible. In a sense enables us to understand prophecy as a multi-faceted expression and not merely the direct correlation between words and future events. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews opens the text: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe.” A typological sense of Scripture is among these various expressions.
For Catholics understanding Mary as the Ark of the Covenant makes particular sense because we are accustomed to the presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle. Even many tabernacles found in our churches are filled with Old Testament imagery, with some even replicating the Ark itself.
Mary can only be seen as the Ark of the New Covenant if indeed Jesus is God, otherwise the image makes no sense. Therefore, our understanding of Mary is here, as it always is, connected to the correct understanding of Jesus. Mary always points us to Jesus and Mary is the one who brings Christ into the world.
God has prepared Mary to be the Ark, as not just anyone could serve that role. Mary was created for this purpose and from the beginning was the one whom God had designated to be the Mother of the Son. While she could freely have said “no” and even questions the Angel as to the meaning of the greeting -- “full of grace” -- and of the message that she is to bear the Son of God, yet her “yes” was prepared for as she is free from the bondage of sin and freely disposed to the will of God in her life.
But why -- what does it matter if Mary is a virgin, or that she is filled with grace? Could not God have performed the miracle of the Incarnation without either or both of those being true of the mother of his Son? The answer of course, is “yes, -- but.” In the Collect for December 20 we pray: “.. filled with the Holy Spirit, grant, we pray, that by her example we may in humility hold fast to your will.”
God does all for our sakes and not for his. He did not need the proper conditions to be in place in order to work his miracle, but we do. Mary could have said “no” and God’s plan would still be fulfilled. You and I need to see Mary as the perfect example of discipleship and what a true “yes” to God can mean and accomplish.
As we celebrate -- albeit briefly -- this Fourth Sunday of Advent, let us be mindful of the power of the example of Mary for us and praise God for the ineffable gift of his Son, the Word present in our midst.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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Gospel reflection for Dec. 24, 2023, Fourth Sunday of Advent
The peculiarity of the calendar leaves us with a Fourth Week of Advent that lasts twenty-four hours. Mary as the Mother of God, -- Theotokos – evokes for us most clearly the image of Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. The Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Here Luke sees Mary as enveloped by the shadow – or cloud – of the presence of God just as the Ark of the Covenant was clouded with the shekinah, or the cloud of the Glory of God. By thinking of Mary in these terms we are called to reflect on the meaning of Jesus.in the miracle of the Incarnation. Mary is the Ark precisely because Jesus is God.
This typology -- seeing in one image the glimpse of another -- is a common way in which Christians, particularly Catholics, read the connections between the two testaments of the Bible. In a sense enables us to understand prophecy as a multi-faceted expression and not merely the direct correlation between words and future events. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews opens the text: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe.” A typological sense of Scripture is among these various expressions.
For Catholics understanding Mary as the Ark of the Covenant makes particular sense because we are accustomed to the presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle. Even many tabernacles found in our churches are filled with Old Testament imagery, with some even replicating the Ark itself.
Mary can only be seen as the Ark of the New Covenant if indeed Jesus is God, otherwise the image makes no sense. Therefore, our understanding of Mary is here, as it always is, connected to the correct understanding of Jesus. Mary always points us to Jesus and Mary is the one who brings Christ into the world.
God has prepared Mary to be the Ark, as not just anyone could serve that role. Mary was created for this purpose and from the beginning was the one whom God had designated to be the Mother of the Son. While she could freely have said “no” and even questions the Angel as to the meaning of the greeting -- “full of grace” -- and of the message that she is to bear the Son of God, yet her “yes” was prepared for as she is free from the bondage of sin and freely disposed to the will of God in her life.
But why -- what does it matter if Mary is a virgin, or that she is filled with grace? Could not God have performed the miracle of the Incarnation without either or both of those being true of the mother of his Son? The answer of course, is “yes, -- but.” In the Collect for December 20 we pray: “.. filled with the Holy Spirit, grant, we pray, that by her example we may in humility hold fast to your will.”
God does all for our sakes and not for his. He did not need the proper conditions to be in place in order to work his miracle, but we do. Mary could have said “no” and God’s plan would still be fulfilled. You and I need to see Mary as the perfect example of discipleship and what a true “yes” to God can mean and accomplish.
As we celebrate -- albeit briefly -- this Fourth Sunday of Advent, let us be mindful of the power of the example of Mary for us and praise God for the ineffable gift of his Son, the Word present in our midst.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.