Pope says living in Jesus' presence not enough to make person holy

Published: 2006-10-18

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Living in Jesus' presence is not enough to make a person holy or make him or her immune to temptation, Pope Benedict XVI said. Living a righteous, Christian life requires a constant surrendering of one's own will to God's divine plan, he said at his Oct. 18 weekly general audience. When Jesus invited people to follow him as one of his disciples or apostles, he respected their free will even though that still left them vulnerable to "the temptations of Satan" and the many "perversions of the human heart," he said. The only way to prevent or remedy such temptations "is to not harbor an individualistic, autonomous view of things, but, to the contrary, to always put oneself anew in Jesus' place, taking on his point of view" and seeking each and every day "to be in full communion with him," said the pope. During the audience, the pope focused on the figures of Judas Iscariot and St. Matthias. It marked the last of his series of talks about the Twelve Apostles.

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