The End of All Religion?
Domingos Sequeira’s painting, The Adoration of the Magi (1828),a vibrant depiction of the Incarnation.
One of the most contested topics in our world is religion itself. At family gatherings, most of us know it is safer to avoid the subject altogether. But what exactly is religion?
For some, religion means a set of rules, moral codes, doctrines, and dogmas. For others, it is a sense of belonging, community, and comfort. Yet the Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann once wrote something that still stops me in my tracks: “Christianity is, in a profound sense, the end of all religion.”
He explained, “Religion is needed where there is a wall of separation between God and man. But Christ, who is both God and man, has broken down the wall. He has inaugurated a new life, not a new religion.”
This vision is not abstract theology. It is deeply practical. To live an incarnational life is to live with sacramental awareness, where all things become a window into the Real Presence of God. Life is no longer divided into compartments of belief and practice, sacred and secular, holy and ordinary. It is simply life with God, who is already here.
I saw that incarnational reality unfold recently at Loyola Marymount University, where Kathy Lorentz and I led a CALLED retreat for those who serve in music ministry. People arrived from very different walks of life, some uncertain of what to expect, but all were drawn into a deeper awareness of God’s presence through prayer, song, and silence.
There was joy in the music, but even more, there was joy in seeing ministers realize they are not defined by their roles or responsibilities, but by the God who meets them in vulnerability. To be incarnational is to trust that every note sung, every silence held, every act of compassion shared is not just service to the Church, but a revelation of God’s love breaking into the present moment.
That is what Christianity offers; not another religion, but an encounter with the living God, a new life.
Fr. John Gribowich
