Do you read the Bible as often as you check your phone? Francis asks

Vatican City, Mar 5, 2017 / 05:22 am

On the first Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis said if we want to fight against the temptation of sin, we must be familiar with the Word of God – treating the Bible more like how we treat our cellphone.

"During the forty days of Lent, as Christians we are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and address the spiritual battle against evil with the power of the Word of God," he said March 5. "For this you have to become familiar with the Bible, read it often, meditate on it, assimilate it."

"Someone said: what would happen if we treated the Bible like we treat our cell phone? If we always carried it with us; or at least the small pocket-sized Gospel, what would happen?"

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims before leading the Angelus in St. Peter's Square, drawing a stark comparison between the attention we give our cellphones and the attention we give Scripture, for example, always taking it with us, and going back if we forget it at home.

"You forget you mobile phone – oh! I do not have it, I go back to look for it; if you read the messages of God contained in the Bible as we read the messages of the phone…" he said.

The Pope reflected on the day's Gospel reading from Matthew, which tells about the temptation of Jesus in the desert by Satan.

The episode comes at a specific point, he said, soon after Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River but before his public prosecution.

"He has just received the solemn investiture: the Spirit of God descended upon Him, the Father from heaven declared him 'my beloved Son' (Matt. 3:17). Jesus is now ready to begin his mission," he said.

But first he must go up against the Enemy, Satan, who presents him with three temptations. "By means of this triple temptation, Satan wants to divert Jesus from the path of obedience and humiliation – because he knows that in this way evil will be defeated," the Pope said.

But the Word of God is like a shield against the poisonous arrows of the devil, Francis said. Jesus doesn't use just any words – he uses the words of God, and in this way, the Son, full of the Holy Spirit, emerges victorious from the desert."

This is what we must do against the temptations of the devil, the Pope said. The comparison between the Bible and our cellphones "is strange, but sobering."

"In effect, if we had the Word of God always in our heart, no temptation could turn us away from God and no obstacle could deflect us from the path of goodness," he stressed. We would know how "to win" against the daily temptations within and around us.

"We would be better able to live a resurrected life in the Spirit, accepting and loving our brothers, especially the most vulnerable and needy, and even our enemies."

Let us ask the Virgin Mary, "the perfect icon of obedience to God and of unconditional trust to his will," to help us during this Lent to listen to the Word of God in the Bible and "to make a real change of heart," he concluded.

"And, please, do not forget – do not forget! – What would happen if we treated the Bible like we treat our cellphone. Think about this. The Bible always with us, close to us!"