The Hateful Things We Hold Tight

09-17-2023Weekly ReflectionColleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

At the end of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” Gollum fights Frodo for possession of the One Ring. He wins the fight, but in doing so falls over the edge of the mountain ledge, falling into the cavernous fires of Mount Doom. As he falls, we see him smile and press the ring against his chest. He is happy. He has earned what he spent his life chasing.

Only in the last millisecond before his face slides beneath the lava do we see his eyes widen in terror as he realizes the truth: what he holds against his heart is what kills him. killed. By choosing the ring, he chooses death. Sin and the fallen nature of this world makes us addicted to something that kills us. Like any addiction, it's a vicious cycle. The less we forgive, the harder-hearted we become... and the less we seek forgiveness ourselves. What breaks the cycle? Reconciliation with God, or Confession, as we call it. In fact, it does more than break the cycle. He turns it back. Not only does it detoxify our souls from sin, but it weakens our addiction to the effects of sin: anger, revenge, unforgiveness. The confession of bad works is the first beginning of good works, said Saint Augustine.

Ultimately, I see our entire human life as a struggle on a mountaintop ledge. We are sure to choose sin, we always do. We will fall over the side, towards ruin. But let's be Frodo, and not Gollum. Let us cling to the rock of the Sacraments and accept the hand that will lead us away from the flames.