A Beacon Of Light… Examination Of Conscience And St. Ignatius

• 4 years ago

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.

(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He is currently the parochial vicar of St. Andrew Parish in Colchester and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lebanon. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)

• + + Over the last few months the world has been spiraling into what seems like total chaos. During this spiraling chaos, society has undergone a kind of transformation. This transformation has led people to forget the fundamental values of who we are as Catholics. In some instances, we can find ourselves caught up as participants in the chaos, rather than as those called to solve the problem. Each one of us is responsible for our own lives.
  
  Sometimes we forget that our actions in life give definition to how others perceive us. Our actions cast either a positive or a negative understanding of who we are.
  
  Because of this transformation, I have decided to dedicate the next few weeks to looking at ourselves. Specifically, by looking at the importance of making an examination of conscience while using the Ten Commandments to help us realize our part in the chaos.
  
  So many of us live each day by following a routine. We schedule our days from morning to night. For many, technologies assist us in scheduling tasks. It might be the iPhone, iPad, or Alexa; whatever devices we use, life has become faster paced. This fast-paced world has its benefits, but it also has become our detriment. Why, you might ask? Well, precisely because for many we have forgotten who we are. We are fallen human beings, whose daily actions have consequences. These consequences affect us, but they also affect others.
  
  How do we learn from all of this and how do we become better members of society as a whole?

Searching Hearts And Souls

We need to re-establish the centuries-old practice of examining our consciences by using the Commandments as our guide.

What is an examination of conscience? An examination of conscience is a review of one’s past thoughts, words, actions, and omissions for the purpose of ascertaining their conformity with, or deviation from, the moral law. Today, even more, we are all called to search our hearts and souls to see where we have fallen from God’s grace, and participated in the chaos of our times.

Pope St. Pius X was very much aware of the need to examine our consciences. In his 1908 encyclical Haerent Animo, he says: “The excellence of this practice and its fruitfulness for Christian virtue are clearly established by the teaching of the great masters of the spiritual life.” This encyclical was written primarily for the clergy, but we can benefit greatly from the Holy Father’s spiritual counsel.

The great St. Ignatius of Loyola was instrumental in helping others to experience inner conversion. In his Exercises, St. Ignatius recommends a daily examining of one’s day. This focuses us to see where we excelled and where we failed in our relationship with Christ. St. Ignatius created The Examen. The examen, or examination of conscience, is a quick prayer to help you see where God was active in your day. Usually done for 15 to 20 minutes at the end of a day, the prayer was popularized by St. Ignatius Loyola in his classic text, The Spiritual Exercises.

Use these five easy steps to pray the examen every day and soon you’ll notice God’s presence more easily.

Presence: Remember that you’re in the presence of God in a special way when you pray. Ask God for help in prayer.

Gratitude: Recall two or three things that happened today for which you are especially grateful. Savor them. Then thank God for these gifts.

Review: Review your day from start to finish, noticing where you experienced God’s presence. Notice everything from large to small: from an enjoyable interaction with a friend to the feel of the sun on your face. When did you love? When were you loved?

Sorrow: You may have sinned today or done something you regret. Express your sorrow to God and ask for forgiveness. If it’s a grave sin, pray about seeking forgiveness from the person offended and seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Grace: You may want to return to a meaningful part of your prayer and speak to God about how you felt. At the close of the prayer, ask for God’s grace for the following day.

Setting aside time each day for the examen allows us to grow in our ability to recognize where we fall. After using this for a while, we can begin to see the patterns of our sins and make the necessary changes. More important, by examining our consciences daily, we are more aware of how we participate in the chaos around us.

A few years back I participated in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, albeit an abbreviated version, and it helped me become a better confessor. Why? Precisely because it helped me to better recognize my own sinful ways, thus allowing me to help those in the confessional. All of us sin, and all of us need to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation in our lives.

As I became a better penitent and confessor, so too those who make use of the examination of conscience will have better Confessions. I hear a lot of Confessions and sometimes I feel bad because many of the penitents have not really prepared for the Confession. We all need to prepare ourselves for confessing our sins. The daily examination of conscience helps to prepare us to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The Ten Commandments

We know we need to examine our consciences — but, how do we do it? What tool do we use to see where we have failed and how to grow? God gave us the tools and He inscribed them on to a set of tablets. The Ten Commandments are our tools to guide us in examining our conscience. On Mt. Sinai, God presented to Moses the Laws we are to follow in life. These Commandments are not man made, but they are are Divine Law and we as Catholic Christians are called to follow these laws.

What are the Ten Commandments? The Book of Exodus, chapter 20:1-17 lists for us the Commandments:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my Commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you….

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Over the next few weeks we will make an examination of conscience together. We will use the Ten Commandments as our guide. How do we live the Commandments well? Where have we failed in living the Commandments, and how can we grow better in the spiritual life?