Pope says people called to model lives on Jesus

Published: 2005-09-07

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People are called to model their lives on Jesus, since he has the redeeming power that lifts humanity out of the darkness of sin, Pope Benedict XVI said in his weekly general audience. Idolaters "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of the image of mortal man" and became more and more like the lifeless objects they worshipped, he said. To free themselves from this trap, the pope said people must continuously model their lives after the image of "the Son of God, since we have been freed from the power of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved Son," who offers redemption and the forgiveness of sins. The pope flew to the Vatican by helicopter from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo Sept. 7 to deliver his weekly catechesis to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. He focused his talk on the canticle in Chapter 1 of St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians, which highlights how Jesus possesses full redemptive power.

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