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Against Evil and Temptation? Pope Encourages Using God's Weapons of Prayer, Reconciliation and Charity

Reminds Arabic-speaking Pilgrims to Not Be Deceived by Evil & Not to Let Guard Down

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How to respond to trickery of the Evil One and prevent letting our guard down in the midst of temptation? Use God’s powerful ‘weapons’ …
Pope Francis encouraged Arabic-speaking Christians, especially those from the Middle East, to do so during today’s General Audience of Wednesday, May 15, 2019.
After his catechesis on the Our Father, the Pope said: «Dear brothers and sisters, when Jesus left us the «Our Father,» He wanted us to finish, asking the Father to free us from Evil.»
«We don’t think therefore it is a myth,» Francis said, warning: «such deception leads us to lower our guard, and so, as we reduce the defenses, he takes the opportunity to destroy our life…»
«Therefore,» Francis encouraged, «we are to have our «lamps lit», and to use the powerful weapons that the Lord gives us: faith expressed in prayer, meditation on the Word of God, sacramental Reconciliation and works of charity.»
Pope Francis concluded, saying: «May the Lord bless you all.»
 
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https://zenit.org/articles/general-audience-on-the-our-fathers-deliver-us-from-evil-full-text/

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Deborah Castellano Lubov

Deborah Castellano Lubov is Senior Vatican & Rome Correspondent for ZENIT; author of 'The Other Francis' ('L'Altro Francesco') featuring interviews with those closest to the Pope and preface by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin (currently published in 5 languages); Deborah is also NBC & MSNBC Vatican Analyst. She often covers the Pope's travels abroad, often from the Papal Flight (including for historic trips such as to Abu Dhabi and Japan & Thailand), and has also asked him questions on the return-flight press conference on behalf of the English-speaking press present. Lubov has done much TV & radio commentary, including for NBC, Sky, EWTN, BBC, Vatican Radio, AP, Reuters and more. She also has contributed to various books on the Pope and has written for various Catholic publications. For 'The Other Francis': http://www.gracewing.co.uk/page219.html or https://www.amazon.com/Other-Francis-Everything-They-about/dp/0852449348/

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