The Holy Spirit drives us too, like Jesus
Every year, at the beginning of Lent, this Gospel of the temptations of Jesus in the desert reminds us that the life of the Christian, in the footsteps of the Lord, is a battle against the spirit of evil. It shows us that Jesus willingly faced the Tempter, and defeated him; and at the same time it reminds us that the devil is granted the possibility of acting on us too, with his temptations. We must be aware of the presence of this astute enemy, who seeks our eternal condemnation, our failure, and prepare to defend ourselves against him and to combat him. The grace of God assures us, with faith, prayer and penance, of our victory over the enemy.
But I would like to underline one thing: in the temptations, Jesus never enters into dialogue with the devil, never. In his life Jesus never had a dialogue with the devil, never. Either He banishes him from the possessed or He condemns him, or He shows his malice, but never a dialogue. And in the desert it seems that there is a dialogue because the devil makes three proposals and Jesus responds. But Jesus does not respond with his words. He answers with the Word of God, with three passages of Scripture. And we should also all do this. When the seducer approaches, he begins to seduce us: “But think of this, do that…”, the temptation is to dialogue with him, as Eve did. And if we enter into dialogue with the devil we will be defeated. Keep this in your mind and in your heart: you can never enter into dialogue with the devil, no dialogue is possible. Only the Word of God.
During the Season of Lent, the Holy Spirit drives us too, like Jesus, to enter the desert. It is not, as we have seen, a physical place, but rather an existential dimension in which to be silent and listen to the word of God, “so that a true conversion might be effected in us” (cf. Collect, First Sunday of Lent, B). Do not be afraid of the desert, seek out more moments of prayer, of silence, in order to enter into ourselves. Do not be afraid. We are called to walk in God’s footsteps, renewing our Baptismal promises: renouncing Satan, and all his works and all his seductions. The enemy is crouching there, beware. But never dialogue with him.
(Pope Francis)