Consciousness Examen

Written on: June 28, 2016

The Examen is a practice of taking time away from “activity” in our day to “see” with God’s Spirit. Another way of thinking of this is “joining with God to see the qualities of our heart.” In the past, it was a Daily Examination of Conscience to be practiced at the end of the day.  This regular and frequent “reorienting with God’s Spirit” is appropriate for any period of our day (as little as 15 minutes.)

“Do my actions in this short span of time flow from the Spirit’s presence and reflect  the peace, patience, love and joy that God enlivens within me?”

Guiding steps:

• PRESENCE – Be with God and let go of anxieties in trust. Ask God’s help.
• GRATITUDE– Recall two or three things that have inspired gratitude during the gift of this day. Enjoy what is recalled, and thank God for these blessings.
• REVIEW– See this past day as it flowed from start to finish with its small and startling incidents and feel each one slowly. When did you love and when were you loved?
• SORROW – Did I miss the mark? Did I sin? Express your sorrow to God and ask forgiveness. Pray that you will seek forgiveness from the person offended or from God or from yourself (i.e. if you forgot you are a unique and beautiful reflection of God and let go of God’s reality.)
• GRACE-Speak to God about how you feel and ask to BE with God in the way God loves.

Taking the time each day to pause, and reflect, in the warmth of God’s loving gaze keeps us centered in that love. Choosing a time during the day for this practice, can help us to re-orient ourselves so that minor adjustments can be made to the ways we are “re-acting” instead of “responding” to life around us.

Sister Rosemary Cauley, GNSH (affectionately known as “Rosie”) lives, prays, and Examen’s at Holy Redeemer Lafayette. We are grateful to her for sharing her wisdom about prayer with us. (Sister Rosie died in January, 2017. We hope she is praying for us from her heavenly home).

This entry was posted in From our Sisters and tagged: Consciousness Examen, Examination of Conscience, grace, gratitude, presence, reorienting, respond, review, sorrow