Pope Benedict XVI and the work of God

Saint Leo Abbey in 1950s or 1960s

In Pope Benedict XVI's final General Audience of his pontificate on February 27, 2013 in Saint Peter's Square, Rome, Italy, he said:

“I am not returning to private life, to a life of travel, meetings, receptions, conferences and so on. I am not abandoning the cross.  I will remain in a new way at the foot of the Crucified Lord.

“I will no longer vest the power of office for the government of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, in the vineyard of Saint Peter. Saint Benedict whose name I bear as Pope, is a great example of this. He showed us the way to a life which, active or passive, belongs wholly to the work of God.”

The Pope was speaking about the divine office, the liturgy of the hours, the opus dei -- the work of God which is the heart of the Rule of Saint Benedict, chapters 8 - 19.

As Benedictine Oblates we seek to follow the Rule of Saint Benedict as our state in life allows. And even though Oblates may not be able to do all the daily prayers of a monk, the life of an Oblate is “a life which, active or passive, belongs wholly to the work of God.”