Francis: "How Do We Overcome the Evil One?"

Pope Francis, whose regular emphasis on the devil is striking, has given another homily in which spiritual warfare plays a prominent part. But unlike so much other Christian comment on this topic, Francis emphasizes that spiritual victory comes through humility and meekness. Here is a portion of his homily as reported at Vatican Radio.

‘Father, what is the weapon to defend against these seductions, from these blandishments, these enticements that the prince of this world offers?’. The weapon is the same weapon of Jesus, the Word of God…and then humility and meekness. We think of Jesus, when they give that slap: what humility! What meekness! He could have insulted him, no? One question, meek and humble. We think of Jesus in His Passion. His Prophet says: ‘As a sheep going to the slaughter.’ He does not cry out, not at all: humility. Humility and meekness. These are the weapons that the prince and spirit of this world does not tolerate, for his proposals are proposals for worldly power, proposals of vanity, proposals for ill-gotten riches.”