64 • BENEDICT XVI BENEDICT XVI • 65 Benedict XVI did not abandon ship out of fear or out of weakness. Throughout his life, he used his freedom to choose to follow Christ, renouncing his own personal projects and wishes in order to continue along the path that Providence seemed to be mapping out before him. He never saw himself as the owner of the Lord’s vineyard, but rather as the steward, with the apron of service always tied around his waist, hoping for the return of his master. He was always conscious of the limitations of his health, and sometimes even worried by them. He withdrew so that another could accomplish what he no longer had the strength to do. But in order to show that his life had been consecrated once and for all to the service of the Church, in the enclosure of Peter, he stayed within the walls of the Vatican. A little monastery erected by John Paul II, Mater Ecclesiae, was providentially made available to him. The wish of the man who had seen himself as his Lord’s beast of burden was now “to serve with all my heart the holy Church of God by a life dedicated to prayer.”82 He felt it was time for him to live the mission of Christ, who came to carry our sins by his suffering, in solitude. It is hard to believe that the great Pope Benedict XVI would have liked for his praises to be sung. It is sure, however, that he would have desired more than anything else that through him, “the humble servant in the Lord’s vineyard,” we would be able to see something about Christ; that in taking a look at his face and at his life, we could see a few traits of the One who had always called him, from a snowy Holy Saturday morning to his last evening. Thus, as children of the Church, we are glad to honor him, contemplating through him the stunning work of divine grace as it encounters its creature and transforms him forever. Thank you, Most Holy Father, for the gift of your life to the Church of God. 81 Ibid., p. 643. 82 Ibid., p. 649. TO SERVE ALWAYS “Dear brothers and sisters… I have decided to renounce the ministr y which the Lord ent r usted to me on 19 Apri l 2005. I have done this in full freedom for the good of the Church. I am strengthened and reassured by the certainty that the Church is Christ’s, who will never leave her without his guidance and his care.”81 February 17, 2013: during his last Sunday Angelus, faces are downcast. Fifty thousand faithful greet the great servant of the Church who, for eight years, guided the Barque of Saint Peter in “troubled waters.” Henceforth, he retires to pray and work in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery (above, to the right). “To love the Church is also to make difficult choices,” explains Benedict XVI at his last public appearance before a hundred thousand people gathered in Saint Peter's Square on February 27, 2013. © Akg © Akg © Akg © Leemage B E N E D I C T X V I the man
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