‘Jesus does not converse with the devil’, observes Pope Francis.
The Pope points out that Jesus never seeks the devil’s opinion, nor does he get into a dialogue with the devil. Jesus only gives firm answers, rebuffing the devil with Scripture, even when the devil tries to warp Scripture to his own ends.
Hoping that Lent can be ‘a time of the desert’ for each one of us, a time when we can find silence and make time for prayer, the Pope also warns us against falling into a ‘slumber of the conscience’.
Silence and prayer must never become dialogue with the devil. If we start to think of ourselves as holier than others, excuse ourselves from helping the poor, or judge others whose lives appear different from our own, then perhaps we have started listening to the devil’s opinion.
This Lent we might reflect on this temptation to self-justify, to dialogue with evil. ‘The devil does this with us’, the Pope suggests. Too easily the devil can, as the Pope puts it, ‘disguise himself with sacred, apparently religious motives!’
Therefore, we might begin Lent by praying for the fortitude to answer our own inner temptations with firm resolve.
© Nick Brodie
Read more from here Parish Bulletin 09.03.2025
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