The Examen
Summary
TLDRThe speaker emphasizes the importance of daily self-examination, inspired by Ignatius, to improve personal growth and spiritual connection. By reflecting on the previous day's actions and interactions, individuals can identify moments where they found or missed God's presence. This practice involves visualizing Jesus watching the day's events with them, prompting self-assessment and a desire for improvement. The speaker suggests praying for specific graces to better embody Christ's love and serve others, highlighting the need for patience, ongoing self-awareness, and hope in God's guidance.
Takeaways
- 🔍 The importance of daily reflection on one's actions and interactions to identify areas for improvement and spiritual growth.
- 🙏 The practice of examining one's day with Jesus as a metaphorical companion, reviewing actions and reactions for alignment with spiritual values.
- 🗣️ Recognizing moments where one's behavior may have been less than ideal and seeking to correct these behaviors in the future.
- 😔 Identifying instances where one might have missed opportunities to see or act upon God's presence in daily life.
- 🤔 Asking oneself why certain situations or emotions may have clouded the ability to perceive God's face in others.
- 🙌 The significance of prayer and seeking God's guidance to grow in areas of personal weakness or challenge.
- 🔄 The concept of 'examining' as a daily ritual that helps in aligning one's actions with spiritual aspirations and intentions.
- 🌱 The idea that spiritual growth requires ongoing effort, similar to practicing a sport, with a focus on self-improvement and awareness.
- 🙏 The belief that God is eager to grant the grace needed for personal growth if one prays with hope and specificity.
- 💡 The suggestion to explicitly ask God for the graces needed to improve, trusting that God will respond generously to sincere requests.
Q & A
What is the significance of the phrase 'the unexamined life is not worth living' in the context of the script?
-The phrase emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and examination of one's actions and behaviors to improve and grow, which is a central theme in the script.
How often does the speaker recommend reflecting on one's day?
-The speaker suggests reflecting on one's day at least once a day, with the possibility of doing it twice a day for more thorough introspection.
What is the metaphor used by the speaker to describe the process of self-reflection?
-The speaker uses the metaphor of playing the day's events on a VCR with Jesus sitting next to you, reviewing your actions together.
What does the speaker mean by 'who wore God's face' in the context of the day's events?
-The speaker refers to 'who wore God's face' as a way to identify the people who represented God or acted in a way that reflected divine qualities during the day.
Why is it important to identify moments where one did not see God's face, according to the speaker?
-Identifying moments where one did not see God's face is important for self-improvement, as it allows for recognizing and addressing the barriers that prevent one from recognizing divine presence or acting in a God-like manner.
What does the speaker suggest doing after reflecting on the day's events?
-After reflection, the speaker suggests praying through the emotions and experiences of the day, considering personal growth, and planning how to better recognize and act upon opportunities for God's presence the next day.
How does the speaker relate the practice of self-reflection to the idea of 'examining the conscience'?
-The speaker equates self-reflection with examining the conscience, suggesting it as a spiritual exercise to identify areas of improvement and to align one's actions with spiritual values.
What role does patience play in the speaker's discussion on self-improvement?
-Patience is presented as a virtue that may need to be cultivated through prayer and self-awareness, especially for those who struggle with impatience, to better embody Christ-like qualities.
Why does the speaker compare the process of self-improvement to practicing a sport?
-The speaker compares self-improvement to practicing a sport to illustrate that, like sports, spiritual growth requires deliberate effort, practice, and the willingness to learn from mistakes and receive guidance.
What does the speaker suggest as a method for explicitly asking for God's help in self-improvement?
-The speaker suggests praying explicitly for the specific graces or qualities needed, such as patience, with the belief and hope that God will respond to these prayers.
How does the speaker view the importance of self-reflection in one's spiritual and personal growth?
-The speaker views self-reflection as crucial for spiritual and personal growth, as it allows for learning from experiences, making resolutions for improvement, and aligning one's actions with divine will.
Outlines
🔍 Reflecting on Daily Life for Spiritual Growth
The speaker emphasizes the importance of daily reflection, akin to watching a video of one's day with Jesus by your side. This practice allows for self-examination, identifying where one found or missed God's presence. The speaker suggests looking back on the last 24 hours to assess actions and attitudes, considering how one might have acted differently to better align with spiritual values. The process involves recognizing moments of sorrow or sadness that may have clouded one's ability to see God's face and praying through these emotions. The goal is to grow spiritually by identifying missed opportunities to help others and preparing to be more attentive and compassionate the next day. The speaker likens this practice to athletic training, requiring patience, practice, and a conscious effort to improve.
🙏 Seeking God's Grace Through Prayer and Self-Improvement
In this paragraph, the speaker discusses the concept of praying for specific graces to improve oneself, such as patience. They suggest that by explicitly asking God for these gifts and maintaining hope, one can receive an abundance of the desired virtue. The speaker reflects on their experiences as a teacher, recognizing the value of kindness and guidance in shaping better outcomes. They stress the importance of learning from experiences, making resolutions for self-improvement, and the necessity of examining one's conscience. The speaker concludes by encouraging the adoption of daily reflection, even if it doesn't naturally fit one's personality, as a means to spiritual and personal growth.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Examination of Conscience
💡Reflection
💡Ignatius
💡God's Face
💡Christ
💡Sorrow and Sadness
💡Missed Opportunities
💡Prayer
💡Grace
💡Patience
💡Practice
Highlights
The importance of examining one's life to improve and grow.
Reflecting on daily events to identify where God was present and where one might have missed His presence.
The metaphor of playing back the day with Jesus as a way to reflect on actions and behaviors.
The concept of 'wearing God's face' and recognizing God in others.
The need for daily self-examination to align one's actions with spiritual growth.
Prayer as a means to process emotions and experiences from the day.
Identifying missed opportunities to see or be God's presence in daily interactions.
The practice of daily check-ins to assess one's spiritual progress and setbacks.
The value of explicitly asking God for the graces needed to improve.
The belief that God is eager to grant the graces requested through prayer.
The necessity of patience and ongoing practice in spiritual growth, similar to practicing a sport.
The idea that self-correction is possible through conscious awareness of one's actions.
The challenge of seeing God's face in others, especially those we struggle with.
The need for generosity and ongoing listening in one's spiritual journey.
The transformative power of examining one's conscience and making resolutions for improvement.
The significance of learning from experience and the importance of self-reflection in personal and spiritual development.
Transcripts
[Music]
the unexamined life is not worth living
yes that's it exactly examination
conscience and Ignatius called it having
us look back over the day you can't hope
to become better at anything unless you
reflect on your mistakes too many of us
are like Bulls in the china shop and go
around uh breaking a lot of furniture or
China or whatever and if we don't
reflect we're we're just going to keep
on messing up other people I'm really
looking at the last 24 hours or maybe
even the last 12 hours if I do it twice
a day uh but I'm looking at the last day
and saying okay what were the events of
my life where did I find God in those
events where did I get in the way of
finding God in those in the events and
you look over your day it's kind of like
putting Jesus next to you on sofa put
your day in the video machine or the VCR
the DVD and play it with Jesus sitting
next to you and so both you and Jesus
are looking at you say look at did you
see that did you like how I acted there
or that was tough I know I'm not being
I'm not being nice there I'm being cruel
there actually I feel bad about that and
shees is saying it's okay did you do
your best try again tomorrow where was
Christ in in in my day I like to say who
wore God's face who wore God's face for
me today so each I want to become more
the person I want to become and look at
the person I am becoming sometimes those
two don't match and then and then trying
to find the places where I didn't see
God's face and then I asked myself why
you know what was it that didn't allow
me what lenses were were I wearing at
the time that didn't allow me to see
God's face at that moment sorrow sadness
uh what moved me this day and pray for
pray through that and how is that how
have I grown in that during this day and
then to begin to look at the next day
and where there missed opportunities
might God have been reaching out to you
through somebody who really needed some
help or somebody who could have used a
kind word and maybe you were too
preoccupied with what you were doing and
you sort of missed it and now you can
think about it well that's really
important that we uh take time like that
for me it's really the kind of
day-by-day
check-in okay
okay I did these good things about my
relationship with the Lord today or in
the last day and I really got in the way
of the Lord in these ways over the last
day so for me the examine is very
important h i put everything that of the
of the day pass into the hands of the
Lord during the examine and say this is
yours do something about it you know and
let me reflect in it and in your
presence and and see what see how we
should go the next day near the end of
the examin or at the end of the examine
you should be propelled to go out there
and uh and and then ask yourself you
know how do I find God tomorrow in the
places where I didn't see him today easy
to say it's not so easy to do because it
requires generosity
and um ongoing listening and knowing
yourself and and all those kinds of
things what would it be for me to wear
God's face what would it be uh for me to
be the Hands of Christ tomorrow for this
person maybe even specifically for the
very people that we had trouble seeing
God in that the day before uh it's and
it's going to take some work it's going
to take a a great deal of patience and
uh and U prayerful practice you know
just and I mean practice in the same way
that you practice for a sport uh if you
were going to try to improve your golf
game well you you either go to a pro and
you say hey look what I'm doing point
out to me where I'm making mistakes
there's there got to be something I'm
doing wrong and once you get that and
you're conscious of what some of the
things are you can self-correct a bit we
know usually what it is that's keeping
us what lens we've put over our eyes
that's keeping us from seeing God's face
in the day and so Ignatius say is to
State explicitly what gift do you need
from God today so if I'm an impatient
person then I need to pray for that
Grace of of patience and pray with a
great deal of hope that God God is is
longing to fulfill those wishes to
fulfill those Desires in me because he's
the one who put the desires in me for
the from the first place um but if I
pray explicitly for those Graces that
Lord I need more patience uh I need the
grace of of patience Ignatius says that
the Lord will run to you with that gift
and and your cup will be overflowing
with patience uh provided that you you
keep praying for it and you believe in
it and you pray and you uh you have hope
you always have hope that the Lord
really loves you enough to give you that
Grace and I think in in my years as a
teacher when you realize oh gee if I had
been a little Kinder in this situation
or have given a kind of direction that
way
uh it would have been a better thing to
do well if you don't do that you might
as well hang it up in not just in
spiritually but in your Humanity uh
you've got to learn by experience and uh
make resolutions to do it better and it
cannot be done without some uh
examination of conscience but it's good
for everybody whether it fits your
personality or doesn't and if it doesn't
fit your personality you should learn to
U make it
[Music]
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