The Pope to the Angelus: “Put this in your head: you never have a dialogue with the devil”

Mireia Bonilla – Vatican City

This noon, Pope Francis looked from the balcony of the Apostolic Palace to reflect on the Gospel of the day according to Mark, which tells of Jesus’ retreat in the desert for 40 days, where he was tempted by Satan, and with which the Lent Francis recalls that the evangelist underlines that the Spirit pushes Jesus into the desert: “The Holy Spirit, who descended on him as soon as he received the baptism from John at the Jordan, the same Spirit now pushes him to go into the desert, to face the Temptant, to fight the devil ”.

The “desert”: place of trials and temptations

The Pope focused precisely on this natural environment “the desert” to explain that it is the place “where God speaks to the heart of man, and where the answer to prayer springs forth”. “But – he says – it is also the place of trial and temptation, where the Tempter, taking advantage of fragility and human needs, insinuates his deceptive voice, an alternative to that of God. “The tempter seduces” specified.

Francis underlines that during the forty days lived by Jesus in the desert, begins the “duel” between Jesus and the devil, which will end with the Passion and the Cross: “The whole ministry of Christ is a struggle against the Evil One in its manifestations. multiple: cures of diseases, exorcisms of the demoniac, forgiveness of sins. It’s a struggle. After the first phase in which Jesus demonstrates that he speaks and acts with the power of God, it seems that the devil prevails when the Son of God is rejected, abandoned and finally captured and condemned to death ”. Francisco assures us that “it seems that the winner is the devil”, but in reality – he emphasizes – “death was the last” desert “to cross in order to definitively defeat Satan and free us all from his power”.

What does this Gospel teach us?

“Each year this Gospel of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness reminds us that the life of a Christian, in the footsteps of the Lord, is a battle against the spirit of evil.” François recalled that “we must be aware of the presence of this cunning enemy, interested in our eternal damnation, in our failure, and prepare to defend ourselves against him and to fight him”. Moreover – he says – “the grace of God assures us, by faith, prayer and penance, victory over the enemy”.

The Pope warns that you should never dialogue with the devil

Pope Francis then stopped at a point that he considers extremely important and that is that Jesus “never speaks with the devil”: “in his life, Jesus never had a dialogue with the devil, never , neither expels the demonized or condemns him but never dialogue. ”But – he says – in the desert“ it seems that there is a dialogue because ”the devil makes proposals and Jesus does not respond with his words, “never”, but “responds with the Word of God, with three passages of Scripture” and this – he emphasizes – is also valid for all of us: “when the deceiver approaches and begins to us seduce, think about this, do that, the temptation is to talk to her, like Eva, “says Francisco.” Eva – keep going – has started a dialogue and if we start a dialogue we will be sold. “” Put this in your head : you never have a dialogue with the devil. There is no dialogue possible, only the Word of God “.

The Holy Spirit also drives us into the desert

Finally, the Pope affirms that the Holy Spirit “also urges us, like Jesus, to enter the desert”, but “it is not a matter of a physical place, but of an existential dimension in which to be silent and listen to the word of God, so that true conversion may be accomplished in us “.” Do not be afraid of the desert – says the Pope – seek moments of more prayer, of silence, enter us, but do not be afraid “concludes – that we are called” to walk in the paths of God, in renewing the promises of our baptism: renounce Satan, all his works and all his seductions ”.