Work as Inordinate Affection

Benedict speaks to us afresh today, calling us back to our true identities, prescribing balance and sanity as a counter to our fragmented lifestyles, and helping us to see the holy in the midst of the ordinary. We as a culture face a crisis of meaning and identity. To revert back to some old theological language, we could say that the entire culture is caught up in work as an Inordinate Affection - a sinful, idolatrous attachment to a lesser good masquerading as the ultimate good. The Rule directs us to God as the ultimate good and work as a means to that good, thus helping us to fulfill our true vocation.