The Ark and the Woman

Seeing parallels between the Ark, Mary, and our mothers

08/15/2024

Rv 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB 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. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One.”

Do you have a keepsake box where you store your most valuable possessions? Many people have a special sealed box at home where they keep jewelry or other sentimental valuables. Someone gave me a ornate box last month on my birthday to keep my rosary in which is very important to me. Other people have a safety-deposit box at a bank with their will or life insurance policy, etc.

Here at the church offices, we actually have an entire room that is virtually a vault where we keep our sacramental registers, that is, our parishioners’ baptismal, marriage, and death records. Or, as I like to say, when our parishioners were “hatched, matched, and dispatched.” In other words, we all guard special things in special keepsake boxes

Well, not all such boxes are made of wood or metal, silver or gold. One such box is made flesh and blood and carries the most precious cargo of all. Can you guess what that keepsake box is? It is a mother’s womb. The most beautiful keepsake box in the world is our own mother. Why? Well, because for 9 months she carried the most precious cargo of all, you and me. Truth be told, our mothers carry us for a lot longer. Our mothers are far more valuable than platinum, silver or gold, indeed, they are priceless.

The first reading today from the book of Revelation also talks about a keepsake box that on closer inspection turns out to be a woman, in fact, she is a pregnant mother. We read: “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 starts.”

You see, the Ark of the Covenant was the Old Testament keepsake box in which the Israelites transported their most cherished possessions: the miraculous bread, Aaron the high priest’s staff, and the Ten Commandments. But in the New Testament, the true Ark of the Covenant turns out to be a pregnant mother, Mary because she carried Jesus in her womb. And Jesus is the miraculous manna, the true high priest, and who alone can help us keep the Ten Commandments. In other words, Mary is the true and eternal keepsake box in the Scriptures and that is what John saw when God’s temple in heaven was opened.

Now, Scripture scholars point out many parallels between the Ark and the Woman but let me just share one important connection for our feast of the Assumption. The Ark in the Old Testament was made of a durable material called “acacia wood” which was petrified and therefore virtually indestructible.

And the Assumption celebrates the fact that God would not allow Mary’s body to decompose in the grave but raised her body to heaven. In other words, Mary’s bodily Assumption was already prefigured in the acacia wood the Israelites used to build the Ark of the covenant.

My friends, we all wish we could keep our mothers with us forever. My parents live in Springdale. And I love being able to text or call my mom daily, and I always look forward to visiting her on Fridays. She always greets me with a big bear hug. She’s almost as excited to see me as she is to see my dog, Apollo! As much as I love my mom, though, I know one day I will lose her.

There is only one Son who has the power to keep his mother with him forever, and that is Jesus. And that is the meaning of the Solemnity of the Assumption that we celebrate today. The only Son who could raise his mother Mary to be with him forever in heaven did exactly that. If you could do that for your mom, you would too. Why? Because that woman is the most precious keepsake box in the world.

Praised be Jesus Christ!