Men are created for holiness, Pope says

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Pope John Paul II affirmed that human beings are chosen, in the “eternal divine design” to be “holy and blameless people” during today’s general audience in St. Peter’s Square, in which he expounded on the opening canticle of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, entitled “God my Savior.”

Through this hymn "the faithful can contemplate and savor this great icon of Christ, heart of spirituality and Christian worship, but also the principle of unity and meaning of the universe and of all of history," said the Pope.

Referring to "the salvific work of the Son," he said this "starts from the eternal divine design that Christ is called to fulfill. In this design shines forth, above all, our being chosen (by God) to be 'holy and blameless people'  ... in love. It is therefore, a holiness and a moral, existential and interior purity."

God our Father, "through Christ, destines us to accept the gift of filial dignity, becoming children in the Son and brothers of Jesus. ... Through this path, the Father realizes a radical transformation in us: a complete liberation from evil, 'redemption through the blood' of Christ, the 'remission of sins' through the 'riches of His grace,' said the Holy Father. “

“We are transfigured creatures: our sin has been erased and we fully know the Lord," and this knowledge "introduces us to the 'mystery' of the divine will."

The Pope emphasized in conclusion that this "'mystery' is a transcendent and perfect project; whose content is an admirable salvation plan: 'to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth."