According to Pope Francis, the devil tempts humans with three “poisons,” namely attachments, distrust, and power, in order to separate us from God.
The pontiff reminded pilgrims in his weekly Angelus message in Saint Peter’s Square that “devil” means “one who divides,” and that Satan always seeks to separate people from God.
In recalling Jesus’ temptations in the desert, the pope stated that the devil attempts to “separate Jesus from the Father and distract him from his mission of unity for us.”
He continued, Satan seeks to exploit Jesus’ human condition, which was weak after fasting for forty days, and tries to poison him with three types of venom to undermine his mission.
“These poisons are attachment, distrust, and power,” he continued, and “we too live among these temptations, always.”
“It is terrible, but that is just how it is, for us too: attachment to material things, distrust 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,” he added.
The pope went on to stress that Jesus defeats these temptations by “avoiding discussion with the devil and answering with the Word of God.”
“This is important: you cannot argue with the devil, you cannot converse with the devil! Jesus confronts him with the Word of God,” he declared.