08/15/2026
It was a great joy to celebrate Solemn Mass for our Patronal Feast at St Martha’s Church in Ashland City this morning. Fr. Childress has graciously given permission for us to post his excellent sermon, preached at the Mass:
King David receives news of the Ark of the Covenant -- the Ark: that visible shrine for the presence of God given to the people of God as a pledge of His Presence among them. King David hears the news: this Ark is being returned from its captivity among the enemies of God’s people. The Ark of the Covenant arrives in the hill country of Judah, and David asks with great fear: “How is it that the Ark of the Lord has come to me?” He leaps with joy before the Ark of God as it enters Jerusalem.
Hundreds of years later, Judith prays to the God of heaven to strengthen her in what she must do. She draws the sword from its mounting and kills the sleeping general Holofernes. By her beheading Holofernes, she has freed the holy city of Jerusalem from the siege of its enemies. And in this moment of triumph, as everyone gathers around to make joyful noise and celebrate her triumph, Judith hushes all of them. She tells them to be quiet, and then she extols the goodness of God, magnifies Him. She tells the people there to worship God. And so, those gathered do break out into joyful noises, praising God. And Ozias the prince of Judah praises her as the greatest among all women. The enemy army abandons their siege, leaves in shame, and as Judith steps outside, all the people praise her, naming her the glory and honor and joy of Jerusalem.
In this way, we see the storytelling of our Lord and the yearning of all human hearts, and where the two will meet in the fullness of time. Our hearts rejoice to hear of the return of the Ark of the Covenant to King David, and we rejoice to hear of Judith acting to save God’s people. But we are left with a mere story. King David has long since gone to the grave. The golden crate which was the Ark of the Covenant has disappeared into history. Judith died long ago. The stories have been told, and they’ve come to an end. In our sinfulness, evil has seemed, to us, to outlast the goodness of God. All of our superstitious beliefs which use God as a magic trick for our own prideful gains -- all had seen our own defeat in our own lives, and anything we held up as the Ark of the Covenant disappeared into demonic lands. Whatever holy city we might have pointed to as a final sanctuary was already under siege by the enemies of our souls.
It’s from here that we can understand the joyful and beautiful import of our Lord’s Incarnation, and the supreme honor given to the Blessed Virgin. Quietly but with haste, the True Ark of the New Covenant fulfills the story from long ago. She isn’t merely a wooden crate coated with gold inside and out. She is the Immaculate Conception, imbued with holiness inside and out, the New Eve, carrying the Presence of God. The Ark of the Old Covenant saw the Blessed Virgin’s arrival in history and rejoiced. And so the Blessed Mother journeys into the hill country of Judah, and, in the womb of Saint Elizabeth, Saint John the Baptist leaps for joy even as King David did. Saint Elizabeth asks, this time not with fear: “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” The True Ark of the New Covenant, the New Eve, triumphs over the enemies of our souls, in her faithfulness to the gift of her motherhood. She is rightly praised with joyful sounds. Yet she also fulfills the Song of Hannah, the worship Judith gave, in extolling her Lord: “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
Now the story doesn’t come to an end. We have entered into the fulfillment. The immaculate Ark of the New Covenant, the New Eve, is assumed into heaven alongside her Son and Lord, Who ascended with our humanity to open the gates of heaven and make a fitting throne for His queen mother. We are right to praise such a glorious mother, such a queen of heaven and earth. We’re right to call her blessed above all women and to refer to her as the glory of the people of God. And now we listen to her instruction. The siege of the enemy is over. God’s Presence has been restored to our midst, in His Church. We enter these Sacred Mysteries recognizing that God has established His Presence among us. Night has gone, and endless day greets us at this altar. Let us rejoice in our Blessed Mother and join her in praising the God Who has saved us.
