Vatican City: ‘Jesus never engages in dialogue with the devil, never tries to argue or negotiate with him. Instead, he fights the devil with the word of God. It is an invitation for us too’… Pope Francis addressed the faithful in Vatican Square on Sunday and shed light on the spiritual struggles during Lent. The Pope’s message was a call to defeat the temptations of the devil with the word of God and thereby strengthen the union with God.
The Pope chose for his message the verses from Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 4, from 1-11, read during the Holy Mass on the first Sunday of Lent. That is, it was the Gospel passage that describes Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The Pope points out how Jesus defeats the temptations of the devil who wants to divide.
The word devil means ‘one who divides’. The devil always wants to cause division, and this is what he intends by tempting Jesus.
Who does the devil want to separate Jesus from? The devil tries to separate Jesus from his union with the Father. Papa explains how the devil prepares the situation for that.
After Jesus was baptized by John, the Father called him ‘My beloved Son’ and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove. The gospel presents us with three divine persons united by love. Jesus came to this world to join us in this unity of love. But the devil tries to destroy this unity. The devil tries to separate Jesus from the Father and turn him away from his mission to join us in unity.
The devil wants to take advantage of Jesus, who is hungry and tired after forty days of fasting. He tries to inject Jesus with three ‘poisons’ to paralyze him. These poisons are attachment, distrust, and power. The devil also applies these poisons to human minds.
Lust for material things, unbelief, and thirst for power are three pervasive and dangerous temptations that the devil uses to separate us from the Father, to lose our sense of brotherhood, and to lead us to loneliness and despair. This is what he wanted to do to Jesus, and this is what he wants to do to us, to drive us to despair.
‘But Jesus overcomes temptation. He defeated the temptations and the devil and survived, using the word of God and avoiding the argument with the devil. Using the Scriptures to refute Satan’s motivations. It is not possible to negotiate with the devil and defeat him, he is stronger than us. By using God’s Word with faith, the devil can be defeated. Thus Jesus teaches us to protect ourselves from the devil’s attacks that destroy our union with God. Jesus’ answer to the devil’s temptation is only the Word of God.
In conclusion, the Pope called us to reflect on how the Word of God guides our own lives and how it helps us in our spiritual struggles. Do I reserve a verse of God’s Word to respond to temptations that come my way? Then when the same temptation arises, do I read the same word again and pray, trusting in the grace of Christ? The Pope reminded us to ask ourselves these questions.
He will help us to overcome temptations and the voice of God’s word will ring within us. The Pope also prayed that Mary, who accepted the word of God and conquered the devil with humility, may help us in the spiritual struggle of this Lenten season.
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