Pope urges Christians to fight temptation with the Word of God

March 10, 2013 - On the First Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis reminded Christians of the importance of resisting temptations by finding refuge in the Word of God, like Christ did. Speaking to thousands of faithful and visitors in St. Peter’s Square before his weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer, he reflected on Sunday’s Gospel episode of the temptation of Jesus by Satan at the end of 40 days of fasting in the desert. The Pope pointed out how Jesus, rather than dialoguing with Satan, like Eve had done in the Garden of Eden, chooses to respond with the force of the Word of God.

The Pope explained the significance of the three temptations of Christ. Firstly, “economic well-being, indicated by the possibility of transforming stones into bread;” secondly, a “spectacular lifestyle” demonstrated in the idea of “throwing himself down from the highest point of the temple of Jerusalem and being saved by the angels,” and lastly, “the shortcut to power and domination” by worshiping Satan. In tempting Jesus with wealth, miracles, and power, the Pope explained, Satan seeks to offer “false messianic hopes” by “distracting him from the Father’s plan.” Rather than following God’s “way of sacrifice, of a loving self-offering in expiation,” Satan tempts Jesus with “an easy road of success and power.” However Jesus uncompromisingly followed the Father’s will, responding with the Word of God to Satan’s temptations. In the final showdown with Satan at the hour of His passion, the Pope said, Jesus demonstrates his absolute faithfulness to the Father’s loving plan by dying on the Cross. “We must dismantle ourselves of idols and vanity and build our life on essentials,” the Pope urged. The Holy Father exhorted Christians that “lent is a favorable time for all of us to make a journey of conversion, honestly confronting this passage from the gospel.”