Vatican City, Feb 21, 2010 / 08:03 am
Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the significance of Lent in his words before the Angelus on Sunday at the Vatican. Today’s Gospel, he said, illustrates how Lent provides time for "a long retreat" in which we can rebuild in order to face the temptations of the devil.
The Holy Father outlined Luke's Gospel account in which Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit, walked out into the desert where he was tempted by the devil over the course of 40 days.
The temptations were not just an "incident" along the path, said the Pope, but "the consequence of Jesus' decision to follow the mission entrusted to him by the Father.”
"Christ came to the world to free us from sin and from the ambiguous attraction of planning our lives apart from God." The Pope added, that he didn't do it with "sonorous proclamations, but by fighting first hand against the Tempter, up to the Cross."