The wisdom of the Church gives us six weeks to reflect on how we have this
tendency to prefer the fleeting pleasure or power of sin over the goodness and
mercy of the Father. This is where sin is a mystery to us: why, when given the
choice to pursue goodness and virtue, do we instead choose pleasure and vice?
Are we even mindful or aware of the diversity of thoughts that we have
throughout the day? Are we conscious at how our actions and speech are
dictated by those interior thoughts? St. Isaac the Syrian gives us a hope-filled
insight here: “the inflamed thoughts are uprooted and turned to flight by
constant occupation of the mind with God. This is a sword that puts them to
death... Whoever always thinks about God drives the demons away from
himself and pulls up the seeds of their malice.”
While we cannot know the interior dimension of a fictitious movie character,
we can examine our own interior with the wisdom of the Church during this
season. Maybe we can practice being mindful of our thoughts during this
time. Maybe we can learn to be more discerning of what we allow our
thoughts to entertain. Maybe, during this Lenten season, we can learn to think
more about God throughout the day and let His thoughts become our thoughts
so our actions and words might better reflect His.