Pope: Guard against deceit of the devil

Pope Francis says we must always be on guard

Photo Credit: Vatican Radio

In October, the Pope gave a homily at a Mass in Casa Santa Marta. He underlines that Christians cannot follow the victory of Jesus over evil "halfway," nor confuse or relativize truth in the battle against the devil.

Jesus casts out demons, and then someone offers explanations "to diminish the power of the Lord," he said. The Pope focused his homily on the day's Gospel and immediately underlined that there is always the temptation to want to diminish the figure of Jesus, as if he were "a healer at most" and so as not to take him "so seriously". It is an attitude, he observed, that has "reached our present day."

"There are some priests who, when they read this Gospel passage, this and others, say: 'But, Jesus healed a person with a mental illness'. They do not read this, no? It is true that at the time, they could confuse epilepsy with demonic possession; but it is also true that there was the devil! And we do not have the right to simplify the matter, as if to say: 'All of these (people) were not possessed; they were mentally ill'. No! The presence of the devil is on the first page of the Bible, and the Bible ends as well with the presence of the devil, with the victory of God over the devil."

For this reason, he warned, "we should not be naive". The Pope observed that the Lord gave us certain criteria to "discern" the presence of evil and to follow "the Christian way when there are temptations". And, he cautioned, this is not "exaggerating".

For full homily, see the Vatican Radio website.