Vatican City - On this first Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis speaks about the spiritual struggle of Lent and explains how in the desert Jesus defeats the temptations of the Devil, who is the "divider." He illustrates how we too must respond to temptation to sin by recalling the Word of God and putting our trust always in the Lord who is ever ready to help us in our journey of faith.

Challenging the three "poisons"
Pope Francis explained how the devil tried to separate Jesus from His union with the Father through three temptations: attachment, mistrust, and power.

Attachment to material goods when the devil tries to get Jesus to stop fasting and to transform the stones into bread; mistrust by trying to get Jesus to test the Father by throwing Himself off the highest point of the temple in order to be saved; and finally, power when the devil suggests Jesus take over worldly kingdoms.

“But that is just how it is, for us too: attachment to material things, mistrust and the thirst for power are three widespread and dangerous temptations, which the devil uses to divide us from the Father and to make us no longer feel like brothers and sisters among ourselves, to lead us to solitude and desperation. He wanted to do this to Jesus, he wants to do it to us: to lead us to desperation.”

These same temptations are dangerous and widespread in our daily lives as well, leading us to solitude and desperation and dividing us from God and each other.

Defeating the temptations
Jesus rejects and defeats the three temptations by avoiding any debate and discussion with the devil and by answering with the Word of God, the Pope underscored, noting the importance of never discussing or dialoguing with the devil. The three verses from Sacred Scripture that Jesus pronounces that oppose the three temptations speak of freedom from goods (cf. Dt 8:3), trust (cf. Dt 6:16), and service to God (cf. Dt 6:13).

“Jesus never enters into dialogue with the devil, he does not negotiate with him, but he repels his insinuations with the beneficent Words of the Scripture. It is an invitation to us too; one cannot defeat him by negotiating with him, he is stronger than us. We defeat the devil by countering him in faith with the divine Word. In this way, Jesus teaches us to defend unity with God and among ourselves from the attacks of the divider. The divine Word that is Jesus’ answer to the temptation of the devil.”

The Holy Father concluded by asking for Mary's intercession in the spiritual struggle of Lent, as she defeated the pride of the divider with her humility and welcomed the Word of God.