Having an encounter with Christ

CHRISTIAN life can be described in many and even endless ways. It is so rich and so mysterious that we can never capture its essence just with one description. Among the many descriptions of Christian life is that it is matter of having an encounter with Christ.

Many people, however, ask whether that encounter is ever possible. To which, my immediate reply is that it is not only possible but is also highly practicable, because more than us trying to look for Christ, it is Christ himself who takes the initiative to look for us. He loves us first before we love him. And he is most solicitous of those who are in some problematic situation.

If we would just let ourselves be guided by our Christian faith and supported by some relevant acts of piety as we normally do with anyone with whom we would like to have some special relation, we know that encountering Christ is actually very easy to do.

In the first place because Christ is already with us, he being the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. He cannot be absent from us if we are to retain our humanity. Just by looking at ourselves, and guided by our faith, we can already have an encounter with Christ.

And not only is he in us, but he is also all around us. All of creation is infused with the presence of Christ through whom God created all things. He is in all men, irrespective of who and how they are. He is in all creatures.

If we can just have a working contemplative spirit, encountering Christ should be a constant and abiding phenomenon. But, alas, precisely having that contemplative spirit is the big question to answer, for the simple reason that many of us fail to realize the spiritual and supernatural dimension of our life. Many of us appear to be trapped in the material and purely mundane aspects of our life.

Especially in our case, Christian life is not just a matter of having an encounter with Christ. It is to be “another Christ,” to assume the very identity of Christ. This is not, of course, a gratuitous and baseless assertion, and a simple declaration of a truth of Christian faith.

While it’s true that each one of us has his own unique personal identity, our Christian faith tells us that all of us are meant to be one with Christ. St. Paul this pointed this out clearly when he said: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3,28)

Further, he said that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2,20) Of course, that statement was prefaced and conditioned by the need to be crucified with Christ also. “I am crucified with Christ,” St. Paul said.

We have to understand then that to be an authentic Christian is not just a matter of having an encounter with Christ, nor just following his will and ways, which obviously are already a tremendous challenge. It is to live the very life of Christ, to have his identity in an existential way, and not just in some theoretical or intentional way.

But, yes, Christian life starts with an encounter with Christ!