To bury the dead. To help those in distress. To comfort the sorrowing. Verses 14-19 are works of mercy, which have received in our time their stark, urgent meaning. The poor are poor, the naked are naked, the sick are unaided, not cared for in many parts of the world, the dead rot on the ground.
Trouble is everywhere.
The cries of the sorrowing can be heard from every corner of the earth. It is among them above all that we find him. This is Benedict's question, and what follows is the fruit of his reflection and his integrated tradition. Prayer, because that is how we come truly to know and be nourished by Christ. Fasting and other such bodily disciplines to train our bodies as servants and fellow-workers, rather than instruments so delicate as to lack the capacity to serve wholly.