Examen Tips

Here are some practical suggestions for doing an examen, which you can use in your journal.

Some guide questions
• What has been the most important thing I’ve done today?
• How have I been an instrument of God’s love towards others?
• Who has shown me God’s love? In what way?
• Have I hurt anyone today?
• Have I treated anyone as a means to an end rather than as a person?

Some Meditations

• Review your day slowly. What stands out? What are you most thankful for? What do you regret? What caused you pain? Pay attention to small things, like a feeling of satisfaction for doing a good job or feeling sorry for missing something important. Pay attention to the memories of how you felt about things.
• Ask God for the grace to know God’s will for your life and to see the ways God is working in your life.
• What do your actions (or failures to act) tell you about your relationship to God? Does anything stand out – a conversation, a time you got angry, something that moved you, an unexpected event, and regret? With patience, ask yourself what your feelings at the time tell you. Does your feeling manifest a willingness to listen to God or to ignore God?
• What patterns do you see over the last day, week, month, or year? What do these patterns tell you about relationship to God?
• Take your observations into prayer, telling everything to God and asking God for understanding. Allow God to move you --- and to surprise you if necessary.

Source: Tim Mouldon, The Ignatiuan Workout