Saint Gilbert and the new life in Christ

By the gift of our baptism we were all inserted in Christ. That is why every baptized, every Christian, is called to "conform" to Christ; that is, to assume the form of Christ, both in suffering and in glory. This is what Saint Paul said to St. Timothy: "Here is an absolutely certain truth: If we die with him, we shall live with him. If we know how to endure, we shall reign with him "(2 Tim 2:11).

It is in this profound mystery of faith that we have all been inserted, a project of new life in Christ and with this grace. The Holy Fathers of the Church said: "Christianus alter Christus," that is, the Christian is another Christ, precisely because he is a member of the Body of Christ and living of his own Spirit.

St. Gilbert took over what St. Paul wrote: "I live, but it is no longer I: it is Christ who lives in me. My present life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me "(Gal 2:20). This is the invitation that the Spirit itself arouses in our hearts: conform our lives to the grace of life in Christ.

         This is the experience of Saint Gilbert: he sought in his life to conform to the new life in Christ, assuming his baptism in the sanctity of life. He tells us the stories of his life that he was a deeply praying man and lover of silence, for in silence we can hear the voice of God and respond in generosity of heart to this dynamic of the Holy Spirit.

May St. Gilbert always help us to live the new life in Christ, assuming our baptism and inserted in Christ, may we be a sign of hope in the world.

        The saints are those who read the signs of the times in their time about the life of grace to fulfill the word of God in their lives, as in the way the first Christians lived: they did everything they did, they lived everything they they lived because they were in expectation of the Lord's return. And we also need to live like this: watching, praying, worshiping our God, doing good, everything waiting for the Lord.