Pope says Love of Work is Way to Find God

(27 May 09 - RV) Here at the Vatican Pope Benedict resumed his regular Wednesday audience today, speaking about VIII monk St Theodore and the need for sober lifestyles to ensure a society of solidarity.

The human aspect of work and the richness received from it has to be destined for well being of the community, while the fruits of work have to benefit everyone including the poor.

That was the recommendation of Pope Benedict as he reflected on one of the early Christian writers of the church St Theodore the Studite at his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday.
Today’s catechesis on the life and teaching of Saint Theodore the Studite places us at the heart of the medieval Byzantine period. Born in 759 to a noble and pious family, Theodore entered the monastery at the age of twenty-two. He vigorously opposed the iconoclastic movement since, he argued, abolishing images of Christ entails a rejection of his work of redemption. Theodore also initiated a thorough reform of the disciplinary, administrative and spiritual aspects of monastic life. A particularly important virtue according to Theodore is philergia – the love of work – since diligence in material tasks indicates fervour in one’s spiritual duties. He even described work as a type of “liturgy”, asserting that the riches mined from it must be used to help the poor. The Studite’s Rule holds particular relevance for us today because it highlights the unity of faith and the need to resist the danger of spiritual individualism. May we heed Theodore’s summons to nurture the unity of the Body of Christ through well-ordered lives and by cultivating harmonious relationships with one another in the Holy Spirit.
The Pope also told the estimated 15 thousand people gathered that only sobriety in life allows us to “surpass the great problem of poverty in the world and helps us to build a “united Society”.