Encountering the Living God

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished” (Mt. 5:17-8). With these words, Jesus reminded his followers that laws, or rules, are important. All of the major religions have a moral code—some more elaborate than others—that structures the lives of their adherents. Within ancient Israelite practice, the Law (Torah) was seen not as a burden, but as a source of life. In the words of the psalmist, “The one who delights in the Law of the LORD is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in due season, and its leaf does not wither” (Ps. 1:3). We should be careful, then, not to neglect the moral tradition of our faith or to pit God’s grace against the demand to live an upright life.

Nevertheless, if our spiritual practice begins and ends with a strict observance of rules, we miss out on a key facet of the faith. Mere external conformity, besides running the risk of hypocrisy, normally cannot be sustained for a long period of time. As Jesus warned the religious leaders of his day, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give away a tenth of your goods. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” For this reason, Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs: outwardly, they appear righteous to others, but within they are “full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (see Mt. 23).

So, how do we honor the moral teachings of our faith tradition without falling into the trap of external religiosity and hypocrisy? The key, I think, can be found in a word that Pope Francis has been using throughout his papacy: encounter. Human beings cannot live on bread alone, nor can they live on rules alone. To cultivate a healthy spiritual life, we need to have an encounter with the living God.

How do you plan on encountering God this semester? Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all method for going about this, and finding what works best for oneself usually requires some practice. If you’ve had a powerful encounter with God in the past, you might want to think about the circumstances that laid the foundation for this occurrence. For me, silence is always a good start. For you, the medium of transcendence might be music or a delicious meal with close friends. Yes, sometimes God surprises us with God’s presence, but there is also something to be said for seeking out that grace.

If God does feel distant right now, don’t give up!In another passage from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus promises that everyone who asks will receive, and that the one who seeks will find (Mt. 7:7-8).One of the great joys of being at a place like SLU is that we don’t have to travel the path of life alone. My prayer today, then, is that as a community we can walk together on this spiritual journey, fully confident that the One who started a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.