He said these temptations are the same ones Jesus is faced with in the day's Gospel, taken from Luke: wealth, vanity and power.
In the life of a Christian, these temptations "seek to destroy what we have been called to be" and "try to corrode us and tear us down," the Pope said.
He said that the temptation for wealth consists of taking what is meant for all and using it for one's own purpose. Namely, it means "taking the bread based on the toil of others, or even at the expense of their very lives."
"That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering. This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children," Francis said.
Vanity, on the other hand, is "the pursuit of prestige based on continuous, relentless exclusion of those who 'are not like me'," he said. Pride means putting oneself on a higher level than one is truly on.
Francis stressed that these temptations are something we face every day. He questioned those present on how aware they are of the temptations in their own lives.
"We cannot dialogue with the devil. Only the strength of God's word can defeat him," he said.
The Pope told the faithful not to lose hope, because "we have chosen Jesus, not the evil one; we want to follow in his footsteps, even though we know that this is not easy."
"We know what it means to be seduced by money, fame and power," he said. He explained that it's because of these temptations that the Church gives us the gift of the Lenten season and invites us to conversion.
The Church, he said, offers us one certainty in God: "(that) he is waiting for us and wants to heal our hearts of all that tears us down. He is the God who has a name: Mercy."
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Jesus is our true wealth, Francis said. He noted that "his name is what makes us famous, his name is our power and in his name we say once more with the Psalm: 'You are my God and in you I trust.'
Pope Francis closed his homily by praying that the Holy Spirit would renew in all "the certainty that his name is Mercy, and may he let us experience each day that the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus."