Pope: God "is not the author of evil" and does not lead us into temptation

At the general audience Francis speaks of the penultimate invocation of the Our Father and emphasizes that when evil appears in the life of man, God "fights at his side, so that he may be freed from it".  "People say why talk about the devil?  An ancient thing, the devil does not exist.  But Jesus was tempted by the devil and Jesus rejects every temptation and emerges victorious ".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - God "is not the author of evil", does not lead us into temptation, as a "somewhat limping" translation of the Greek text of the Our Father says.  Indeed, "when evil appears in the life of man, he fights at his side, so that he may be freed from it".  The penultimate invocation of the Our Father was illustrated by Pope Francis in the catechesis for the general audience, again today dedicated to the prayer taught by Jesus.

To the 40 thousand people present in St. Peter's Square, the Pope said that in the last part of the Our Father "our dialogue with the heavenly Father enters, so to speak, in the midst of the drama, that is, onto the terrain of confrontation between our freedom and the traps of the Evil One.  As is well known, the original Greek expression contained in the Gospels is difficult to render exactly, and all modern translations are somewhat lacking.  On one element, however, we can unanimously converge: however we may understand the text, we must exclude that it is God who is the protagonist of the temptations that hang over the path of man.  As if God were lurking to lay traps and pitfalls for His children.  An interpretation of this kind contrasts above all with the text itself, and it is far from the image of God that Jesus revealed to us.  Let us not forget that the Our Father begins with Father and a father does not tempt his children.  Christians have nothing to do with an envious God, in competition with man, or who enjoys putting him to the test.  This is from a pagan god.  We read in the Letter of James the Apostle: "No one, when tempted, will say:" I am tempted by God ";  because God cannot be tempted to evil and he does not tempt anyone "(1:13).  Quite the contrary: the Father is not the author of evil, to no son who asks for a fish, does He give a snake (see Lk 11,11) and when evil appears in man's life, He fights at his side, so that he may  to be freed from it.  A God who always fights for us, not against us.  It is in this sense that we pray to the "Our Father"".

"If we are tempted to do evil, denying fraternity with others and desiring absolute power over everything and everyone, Jesus has already fought this temptation for us: the first pages of the Gospels attest this.  Immediately after receiving the baptism from John, in the midst of the crowd of sinners, Jesus retires to the desert and is tempted by Satan.  Thus begins the public life of Jesus ".  "People say why talk about the devil?  An ancient thing, the devil does not exist.  But Jesus was tempted by the devil and Jesus rejects every temptation and emerges victorious".

"But even in the time of the supreme trial, God does not leave us alone.  When Jesus retires to pray in Gethsemane, his heart is invaded by an unspeakable anguish, and he experiences solitude and abandonment.  The proof is so lacerating that something unexpected happens.  Jesus never begs love for himself, yet on that night he feels his soul sad until death, and then asks for the closeness of his friends: "Stay here and keep watch with me" (Mt 26:38).  As we know, the disciples, weighed down by a numbness caused by fear, fell asleep.  In the time of agony, God asks man not to abandon him, and man instead sleeps.  In the time in which man knows his trial, God instead watches.  In the worst moments of our lives, God is with us, because he is a father and the Father does not abandon his children.  That night of pain and struggle is the last seal of the Incarnation: God descends to find us in our abysses and in the travails that dot history.  It is our comfort in the hour of trial: to know that that valley, since Jesus crossed it, is no longer desolate, but is blessed by the presence of the Son of God. He will never abandon us! ".

"Therefore remove from us, O God - concluded Francis - from the time of trial and temptation.  But when this time comes for us, show us that we are not alone, that Christ has already taken upon himself the weight of that cross, show us that Jesus calls us to carry it with him, trusting in the love of the Father ".

Finally, the Pope said in his greeting to the Italians that "today we celebrate the memory of St. Joseph the worker.  The figure of the humble worker of Nazareth always guides us towards Christ;  support the sacrifice of those who do good and intercede for those who have lost or are unable to find work."