About the Examen
My friend, you have been practicing the Examen for two weeks. It should be close to a habit and be helping you to live your life awake and aware. Read now what an Ignatian scholar writes about the Examen:
“The Examen is not about good or bad actions, but about how God is moving me. Its focus is not on me; it is on God in me and how I respond to God’s loving initiative. What are the implications of my unique gifts? What do my personality, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, choices and dilemmas tell me about God’s movements in my life? The Examen makes us more aware of our inner movements and which are Spirit-inspired. It fosters the realizations that the present moment, ordinary as it may be, is the fruit of past choices and leads to future ones. But the Examen also helps us pay attention to how our choices impel us toward necessary consequences, perhaps taking us our of our comfort zone. It moves from a superficial survey of what happened in a day, to a deeper sense of patterns I one’s life. The first step, noticing, needs o be followed by analysis, judgment, and choosing, for as one sees, one judges and acts. The goal of the Examen is to develop a discerning heart throughout all of life, finding God in all things. My life is not long an “I” it is a “we”.” (Gooley, chapter 2)
During your Examen, pray to experience God’s love for you. Pray to be utterly available. Pray to not be attached – pray that you may not cling to whatever separates you from God.
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