Good morning. Jesus says, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." At first Mary does not recognize Him, she is upset, and startled at His appearance (she mistakes Him for the gardener), and, she, like all of us, looks at things in a way that makes sense for her, that fits with her personal life view of the world. So like us, is she. Like Mary in today's Gospel we all want to embrace and discern Jesus on our own terms. Like Mary we don’t always recognize His presence in our lives, because we choose to look at things through our own lenses. But, Jesus is quite clear in His words to Mary that we cannot have Him on our own terms. We cannot embrace Him as just being humanly familiar and comfortable; no, He challenges us to go further, He enjoins us to seek Him out in places beyond our own personal comfort zone, to places we may not wish to go. He makes it clear that He is calling us to a place beyond what is comfortable and fitting with our own desirable view of the world, a kingdom beyond this worldly one we’ve grown fond of.
We see this all the time, people from all walks of life tailoring Jesus’ teachings to fit their own world view. We see this posturing of scripture and Jesus’ words all the time in the way that some opt to suggest a casual position in matters of sexuality and marriage, the media (even some “catholic” publications) ridicule, distort and mitigate the teachings of the Church. We are often tempted like Mary of Magdala to prefer to keep Jesus in a place where we are comfortable and familiar, where we can manage Him, even sometimes we go so far as to create God in our own image. As Jesus reminds Mary in a very clear if not abrupt manner, how we prefer to view things is not always identical to how He sees things.
Our Saint for today, Saint Fulbert, bishop of the Cathedral of Chartres from 1006 till 1028, was known for being a defender of Church teaching, and his love for our Blessed Mother. His hymn, You Choirs of New Jerusalem, is still sung in churches today at Easter. Like so many things, how we choose to view the world, and where we choose to build our kingdom, determines greatly how we discern Jesus’ presence in our lives. Depending upon one’s world view we find fulfillment in marriage either through living ‘with someone’ or living ‘for someone.’ Where we choose to build our kingdom determines everything. Make a great day!
Today we recall the good life, gifts, and work of Saint Fulbert of Chartes.
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