Having failed in tempting Our Lord through his body the Devil turned his attention to tempting him through his mind, to an act of pride and presumption.  He said, as it were, “You have done well in refusing to make the stones bread, now show how perfect is your trust in God by casting yourself down from the pinnacle of the Temple”.  It was a temptation to test God, to satisfy himself that God really cared for him; and perhaps also there was the thought of attracting a great mass of disciples by a spectacular and sensational miracle, instead of by the Crucifixion.

So we may be tempted to pride and self-congratulation at the way we practise self-denial this Lent, for if the Devil fails in one way he will most certainly try another.  Because therefore the mind is the special channel of many temptations, this too must be disciplined.

There are times when our minds get out of control, when they are the playground of many idle and trivial thoughts.  We need a rule, therefore, which will help to control our mind by supplying it with worthwhile food for thought, and there can be nothing better than the Bible.  We could read several verses of, say, St Luke’s Gospel each day and turn them over in our minds afterwards.