Inspired by the monthly retreat and the words of St. Augustine, Willmer Moyetones, OAR, offers us a profound reflection on the Christian meaning of death.Moyetones, OAR, offers us a profound reflection on the Christian meaning of death. In this Easter season, we are invited to die to ourselves so that signs of resurrection may flourish in our lives and communities. For dying – in the Gospel sense – is the only way to truly live.
Dying to the old to be reborn with Christ
In these days, meditating on the text that the Order has proposed to us for the monthly retreat, the central theme has been the resurrectionThe Risen Christ, our hope.
Of the entire retreat, I was particularly struck by the last reflection question:
What signs of resurrection do I perceive around me that encourage my hope?
I related that question to a statement of St. Augustine in his sermon 229H:
“Nothing is more certain to man than death… Since dying is a necessity.”
We all know that we are going to die. We have that certainty. We are pilgrims in this world, we are just passing through. We were not born to stay here: our dwelling is in God. From him we come and to him we return. But why is it necessary to die?
St. Augustine explains it clearly: it is necessary to die in order for eternal life to arriveso that we can experience the glorious resurrection. Only if we die can we be born again to true life. Therefore, in these days of the Easter Triduum, we will remember the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, so that our pilgrimage may be filled with hope. our pilgrimage will be filled with hope..
Signs of death and resurrection in our communities
Reflecting on this question as a community, we agreed on something essential:
for there to be signs of life and resurrection in our homes, it is necessary to die to many things.
Because at times we see that some friars have lost the illusion, the first love of consecration; accommodation, boredom, individualism, narcissism, and narcissism have crept in. accommodation, boredom, individualism, narcissism … All of this extinguishes joy, and without joy there is no Easter.… All this extinguishes joy, and without joy there is no Easter.
Therefore, it is urgent that we we die to everything that prevents us from living with hope.:
to disillusionment, to selfishness, to spiritual weariness, to doing things by routine.
Dying to self in order to live in communion
We need to die to the that puts itself at the centerthat prevents us from thinking in the key of community. Consecrated life is not built from individualism, but from shared love.but from shared love 
. Dying to self is what allows the community to generate life, joy and hope for the world.
As Jesus says in the Gospel:
“Unless a grain of wheat dies, it remains unfruitful; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24).
Easter with a new face
These holy days are an opportunity to let ourselves be let ourselves be looked at by Jesusas he looked at Peter and Judas. May He take off our masks, strip us of everything old, and grant us to die in order to rise again.
May we live this Easter with joy and gladness, knowing that we can now live as risen with Christ we can now live as risen ones with Christas we await the good things from above, where he is.