Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 318

David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom 
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps, 
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron, 
came dancing before the LORD with abandon, 
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.

When he described a young, pregnant virgin's arrival in Jerusalem, Saint Luke remembered a rather different event, far louder and more public. He alluded to David's bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the city he had captured and would make the capital of his kingdom. 

Elizabeth lived with her husband-priest Zechariah in or near Jerusalem, close enough for him to participate in the functions of the temple and to take his turn at offering incense in the Holy of Holies, the temple's tabernacle. The Litany of Loreto honors Mary as the Ark of the Covenant; and Elizabeth represented Jerusalem when she shouted for joy at the Virgin Mother's arrival:

Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

In the meanwhile, John the Baptist is dancing like King David for joy at the coming of the Ark and the Messiah. 

We should also notice the Angel's explanation to Mary of her mysterious pregnancy. 

The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

First Kings and Second Chronicles described a similar overshadowing when King Solomon presided over the consecration of his brand new temple. We'll hear this story soon, on Monday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time:

When the priests left the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD. (1 Kings: 8:10-11) 

The story is also told by the Chronicler:  

When the trumpeters and singers were heard as a single voice praising and giving thanks to the LORD, and when they raised the sound of the trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments to “Praise the LORD, who is so good, whose love endures forever,” the cloud filled the house of the LORD. The priests could no longer minister because of the cloud, since the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:13-14)

Finally, as we ponder Saint Matthew's account of the Magi finding Jesus in Bethlehem with Mary his Mother, we understand why we revere her so much. She is the New Jerusalem, and we come into her presence to worship the Lord who abides with her, and is born of her. 

The Evangelists knew that the birth of the Messiah, as unexpected as it was, was not an anomaly. God had planned it from all eternity; and it was foreshadowed a thousand years before as King David repurposed Salem as Jerusalem, the Holy City; and Solomon consecrated his temple. 

In the fullness of time, God revealed his plan to us. We have only to wait.