Ignatian Examen – Introduction 1
Dear Friends,
The last three Inbox Inspirations (May 26, June 2, and 9) were focused on Saint Ignatius of Loyola – his life, his writings, and the spiritual tradition that he started.
I did this as background for presenting the Ignatian Examen – the daily prayer that Ignatius introduced in his spiritual classic, The Spiritual Exercises.
The Examen is not just an examination of conscience.
It is not just looking for what wrong I have done and then bringing that to God for forgiveness.
That is a good practice and a good part of one’s spiritual life.
The Examen, however, is more of a prayerful discernment of how God is acting within us and how we are to respond to God.
“When examen is related to discernment, it becomes examen of consciousness rather than of conscience. Examen of conscience has narrow moralistic overtones. The prime concern was with what good or bad actions we had done each day. In discernment the prime concern is not with the morality of good or bad actions; rather the concern is with how the Lord is affecting and moving us…deep in our own affective consciousness.”
The idea is that what is happening within us, in our inner consciousness, is prior to and more important than our actions.
The Examen is a way of prayer or a prayer that leads us to this.
Its focus is first and foremost on God and on who God is calling me to be and what God is drawing me to do.
The focus on oneself flows from that.
It is, in that sense, secondary.
God and God’s action must come first in our consciousness.
Next week, I will conclude this Introduction and then in the following weeks guide us through each of the five steps of the Examen.
Father Michael Schleupner
Above quotation from Consciousness Examen by George Aschenbrenner, S.J.
Ignatian Examen – Introduction 2
Dear Friends,
Before beginning to reflect on each step of the Ignatian Examen, I want to make a few more introductory observations.
Ignatius believed that we can encounter God in both the transcendent and the everyday.
We can have moments, maybe gazing at a sunset or having just received the Eucharist, when we feel touched or overwhelmed by the presence of God.
We can also find God in our everyday lives – maybe in the graciousness of a cashier in the supermarket, or in preparing a meal to please our family.
The Examen of Consciousness is intended to help us to see God’s presence today, in this day of life, experience, and activity.
In that sense, this prayer is new and different each day.
The Examen leads us to focus each day on both God and God’s action, as well as on ourselves and our response to God.
As we do this, Ignatius calls us to trust our feelings and to discern what God might be saying to us in them.
It’s not as if feelings have the final say on the value of our actions.
Rather, feeling joyful or confident, sad or discouraged – feelings like these can be indicators that something is going on, that God may be speaking to us here, and that we need to slow down and see what we are to do as a result of these feelings.
Finally, the Examen is intended to look back – in the evening on the day just completed, or in the morning on the previous day.
“The examen builds on the insight that it’s easier to see God in retrospect rather than in the moment.”
Beginning next week, I will reflect on each of the five steps of the Examen of Consciousness (the Inbox Inspirations of June 30 through July 28).
For more background, consult the Inbox Inspirations of May 26, June 2,9, and 16.
Father Michael Schleupner
Above quotation from The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by Father James Martin, S.J.
Ignatian Examen
Step 1 – Seeking Light
Dear Friends,
In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius sees thankfulness as the first step of the Examen.
However, he also says: “The Spiritual Exercises must be adapted to the condition of the one who engages in them.”
Many in the Ignatian tradition see this flexibility as applying to the Examen itself.
Accordingly, some have placed enlightenment or seeking light as the first step of the Examen, and I have been following that approach.
I need God’s light even to be thankful.
So, for me, the prayer for enlightenment means seeking God’s help:
· to see as much as I can about God, about who God is, how God relates to us, and what God expects of us;
· to see this through Jesus, the image of the invisible God, as our Creed says, “God from God, light from light.”
The prayer for enlightenment also means seeking God’s help:
· to see as much as I can about myself, about who I already am or am created to be, and about how I can become fully who I am;
· to see my strengths and gifts, and also my weaknesses and shadow sides.
Again, the prayer for enlightenment means seeking God’s help:
· to see how God wants me to respond and relate to others;
· to see what God wants me to do for the last, the least, the little, and the lost in our midst.
Finally, the prayer for enlightenment means seeking God’s help:
· to see all of the gifts and opportunities God has given me;
· to see all there is for which I need to be thankful.
Maybe Step 1 of the Examen can be summarized in this way:
“Let yourself see your day as God sees it.”
This takes us to Step 2 – Giving Thanks.
That will the topic of next week’s Inbox Inspirations, July 7.
Father Michael Schleupner
Above quotation from The Ignatian Adventure by Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J.
Ignatian Examen
Step 2 – Giving Thanks
Dear Friends,
After beginning the Examen by Seeking Light, we move to Giving Thanks.
Ignatius saw gratitude as central to the spiritual life.
He felt this so strongly that he said: “Ingratitude is the cause, beginning, and origin of all evils and sin.”
Regardless of our financial condition, social status, or personal accomplishment, Ignatius wants us to see ourselves as poor in relation to God.
We are to be “poor in spirit,” as Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.
We are to resist the temptations of taking things for granted, of looking at what we don’t have instead of what we do have, and of feeling entitled to things.
Instead, we are to recall each day all that God has done for us.
In this crucial step of the Examen, we recall simple and special blessings:
· the new day of life itself;
· food and even our appetite to eat;
· our job and being able to provide for ourselves and our family;
· good health, or medical care when we are sick;
· a house to live in, along with heat or air conditioning and furniture;
· family members and friends, those whom we love and who love us;
· faith and hope;
· a day off, a weekend away, a vacation.
As we look back in the morning upon the previous day or look back in the evening at the day just ended, we need to be as personal and as concrete as possible in giving thanks to God.
“Such gratitude is a window into the deepest truth about ourselves – that we are caught up in a relationship with a loving God who is generous beyond our imagining…. Gratitude…[is] the essence of our spiritual condition”
For the introduction and Step 1 of the Examen, see the Inbox Inspirations of June 16, 23, and 30. Step 3 will be next week, July 14.
Father Michael Schleupner
1st quotation from a letter written by Ignatius of Loyola dated March 18, 1542.
2nd quotation from A Simple Life-Changing Prayer – Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen” by Jim Manney.
Ignatian Examen
Step 3 – Looking Back
Dear Friends,
After Seeking Light and Giving Thanks, we move to Looking Back.
In this third step of the Examen, we review the prior day or the day that is now ending.
We look at what happened, but only as a way to get inside of ourselves.
We are to look back especially at our inner experience and inner self.
“Ignatius believed that God communicates with us not only through our mental insight but also through our ‘interior movements,’ as he called them: our feelings, emotions, desires, attractions, repulsions, and moods.”
Ignatius cited two basic kinds of inner experience: consolation and desolation.
Consolation is often expressed in feelings of peace, joy, or fulfillment.
Consolations are experiences that lead us to feel more fully alive, closer to God, or more connected with those in our life.
Desolation is often expressed in feelings of anxiety, restlessness, or dejection.
Desolations are experiences that lead us to doubt ourselves, doubt God, or feel distant from others.
God speaks to us through both consolations and desolations.
In both kinds of inner experience, God may be guiding us in our vocation, in ministry, in a relationship, in making a decision, and on it goes.
This is why it is important for us to be attentive to these inner movements.
A good practice is to keep a record of these consolations and desolations.
Write by hand or develop an ongoing computer document where you would note the date, and then briefly describe at least the primary consolation or desolation that you experienced on that day.
Do this every day for a month and then review your notes.
See what they might tell you over a period of time about how God is acting in your life and what God seems to be guiding you to do.
For the introduction and Steps 1 and 2 of the Examen, see the Inbox Inspirations of June 16, 23, and 30, and July 7. Step 4 will be next week, July 21.
Father Michael Schleupner
Above quotation from The Ignatian Adventure by Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J.
Ignatian Examen
Step 4 – Being Contrite
Dear Friends,
This fourth step of the Examen follows from the third which was Looking Back.
In that step, we review the prior day or the day that is just ending from an interior perspective.
We look at our inner movements – our feelings, desires, moods, attractions, and repulsions.
We look at these under the Ignatian categories of consolation and desolation.
Now, in this part of the Examen, we are looking more at our actions or behavior.
We are looking at what we did or failed to do that falls short of God’s calling.
So, we look at things in our personal life like prayer, diet, exercise, and use of time.
We look at relationships: our response to family, friends, associates, anyone with whom we related or to whom we should have reached out.
Being Contrite means feeling sorrow for our faults, failures, or sins.
Positively, it also means seeking metanoia – the Greek word that we translate as repent, but which really means conversion or change of heart.
Above all, we engage in this step of Being Contrite with the assurance of God’s complete love for us.
That love remains, regardless of what we did or failed to do.
This assurance keeps us spiritually whole and personally secure in our own value or self-worth.
“This contrition and sorrow is not a shame nor a depression at our weakness but a faith experience as we grow in our realization of our Father’s awesome desire that we love Him with every ounce of our being.”
It is appropriate and helpful to conclude this step of the Examen with some kind of Act or Prayer of Contrition, perhaps as simple as this:
“Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.
In his name, my God, have mercy.”
For the introduction and Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the Examen, see the Inbox Inspirations of June 16, 23, and 30, and July 7 and 14. Step 5 will be next week, July 28.
Father Michael Schleupner
Above quotation from Consciousness Examen by George Aschenbrenner, S.J.
Prayer of Contrition from The Roman Ritual, The Rite of Penance.
Ignatian Examen
Step 5 – Looking Ahead
Dear Friends,
This fifth and last step of the Examen follows from all that preceded it, but especially from steps three and four: Looking Back and Being Contrite.
In Looking Ahead, we resolve to act according to what God seems to be moving us to do.
The focus here is: “What will I do today? The basis for this decision is what we have experienced of Christ in the hours of the immediate past…. we decide to take action, based on our experience of God in the day we’ve just lived.”
Here are some areas and examples for our daily resolve.
Prayer:
We might resolve to set aside ten minutes to reflect on a passage of Scripture, to pray the rosary, or just to be quiet and listen to God within us.
Thankfulness:
We might resolve to make sure that we become aware of even ordinary blessings of the day and thank God for them – like having food or a home or health care.
Relationships:
We might resolve to give time to a family member whom we have neglected or to try to reconcile with someone with whom we are at odds.
Self-care:
We might resolve to make time for some kind of exercise or work-out or to make sure that we go to bed early enough to get enough sleep.
All of the above are just illustrations or examples of what we might resolve to do.
In our Looking Ahead, the important thing is to get in touch with what God is prompting us to do, and this will usually flow from the feelings that arose when we were Looking Back (step 3) and the actions that led to our Being Contrite (step 4).
For the introduction to this series and for Steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Examen, see the Inbox Inspirations of June 16, 23, and 30, and July 7, 14, and 21. Next week, August 4, I will offer some concluding comments.
Father Michael Schleupner
Quotation above from A Simple Life-Changing Prayer – Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen by Jim Manney.
Ignatian Examen
A Concluding Thought
Dear Friends,
The background or foundation of the Ignatian Examen and of Ignatian spirituality in general is the Latin word magis, which means more or greater.
In the Second Week of his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius calls the retreatant to repeatedly ask for this grace: “to know Jesus more intimately, to love him more intensely, and to follow him more closely.”
Ignatian spirituality moves us first to want to know Jesus more “intimately” in his life, teachings, and ministry as given to us in the gospels.
Then, through that, we are moved to love him more “intensely” for all that he is as God incarnate, as both human and divine.
That, in turn, moves us to follow him “more closely,” trying to live as he lived in every dimension and situation of our lives.
Ignatius saw life as a journey and, in his autobiography, described himself as a pilgrim.
By this he meant that his mission was never finished until the moment when God would call him home.
Therefore, there is always more to do in our own personal and spiritual growth and more to do in bringing God’s kingdom alive on this earth.
Ignatius wants us to make our choices in life for the magis – taking the next or extra step and doing more.
The daily Examen is a way of opening ourselves to doing this.
The motto of the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius, has as its motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
These Latin words mean For the Greater Glory of God and are attributed to Ignatius himself.
They flow from the magis and express the vision that the choices and directions of the Society of Jesus would always be for the more, the greater.
The Greater Glory of God will also be what is greater and more spiritually beneficial for individual persons and for all of humanity.
Father Michael Schleupner
Quotation above from The Ignatian Adventure by Father Kevin O’Brien, S.J., and based on The Spiritual Exercises #104 by Ignatius of Loyola.
