Tag Archives: bible

The Daily Examen

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The heart of the Examen is reviewing your day

St. Ignatius Loyola included in his Spiritual Exercises a prayer called “the Examen,” which derives from the Latin word for examination. It is a meditation with roots not only in Ignatian spirituality, but also in the spiritual practices of the ancient Stoics. There are many versions of the Examen today, but all have five steps. Here is a simple rendering of some key elements:

  1. Place yourself in God’s presence. Give thanks for God’s great love for you.
  2. Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life.
  3. Review your day — recall specific moments and your feelings at the time.
  4. Reflect on what you did, said, or thought in those instances. Were you drawing closer to God, or further away?
  5.  Look toward tomorrow — think of how you might collaborate more effectively with God’s plan. Be specific, and conclude with the “Our Father.”

Some versions of the Examen place a special emphasis on gratitude and feelings. A detailed example of such a meditation is offered by IgnatianSprituality.com.

“God is in it”

The heart of the Examen is the third part: reviewing your day.

“Think of it as a movie playing in your head,” writes James Martin, S.J., in The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything. “Push the play button and run through your day, from start to finish, from your rising in the morning to preparing to go to bed at night. Notice what made you happy, what made you stressed, what confused you, what helped you be more loving. Recall everything: sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, textures, conversations. Thoughts, words, and deeds, as Ignatius says. Each moment offers a window to where God has been in your day.”

And remember that no experience is too trivial for spiritual investigation.

“Nothing in our lives is so insignificant that it doesn’t deserve God’s attention,” notes Jim Manney in A Simple Life-Changing Prayer, a book about the Examen. “In fact, the mundane and the humdrum parts of our lives give depth and texture to our relationships with God. Washing the windows and cooking dinner are as much a part of the relationship as graduation day. If it’s part of our human experience, God is in it.”

Ignatius was emphatic about the Examen. He told the early Jesuits that if they for some reason did no other spiritual exercises, they should do this one. Then as now, the Examen is a spiritual tool for sizing up your days — and planting the seeds for a more purposeful life.

jesuitwest.org

Franciscan Inspirations: Mary at the Cross

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The National Gallery, London

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/christ-on-the-cross-with-the-magdalen-the-virgin-mary-and-saint-john-the-evangelist-114465

All four Gospels make note that Mary was present at the crucifixion and death of Jesus on Good Friday. Matthew, Mark, and Luke note that Mary and other women, in particular Mary Magdalene, “watched from a distance.” Only Luke writes that “some of Jesus’ disciples” were with Mary. Notably, the Twelve were not there, but hiding out of fear for their lives.

John, however, says very clearly that Mary—with Mary Magdalene and the disciple whom Jesus loved—witnessed Jesus’ death “from the foot of the cross,” not from a distance. At the same time, the distinction made between John and the other three evangelists may provide us with significant teaching moments.

On the one hand, Matthew, Mark, and Luke may be understood as historical descriptions since family and relatives, especially women, would not have been permitted up close to the actual place of execution. Executions were “men’s work.” Those executed were stripped of all clothing and died naked. Artists have added loincloths for the sake of Jesus’ dignity. And executioners would not have wanted hysterical family members getting in the way. If you’ve seen The Passion of the Christ, you will remember the shocking brutality of the crucifixion. But the point is that, even at a distance, the fact is that Mary and others saw Jesus crucified and die.

Universal Truths

John’s description has Mary, Magdalene, and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” close enough so that they could hear his words. John’s account is not for the purpose of describing the actual historical scene. Rather, it is to give the early Church a powerful instruction in the relationship of Mary not only to the disciple standing near her, but also to the whole Church. Jesus showed us that his mother was, indeed, the mother to all of God’s children.

In looking at this scene of Jesus’ crucifixion and noting the distinctions between Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s description—and that of John’s—we see an important point in reflecting on Scripture. Sometime people want to put great emphasis on those things that they see and understand as historical. It is essential to understand that God reveals his truth in various ways.

The writer, John, already knew of the other Gospels as they described Mary and the others watching the death of Jesus, showing their dedication and faithfulness to him even in death. The best conclusion to draw is that everything in the Gospels (and all of Scripture) is significant since it is the revealed word of God. Whether it is a fact of history or a manner of teaching that might not be historical, both contain the truth of God’s teaching for us.

Both the devotion of Mary and the women witnessing Jesus’ death—and the gift of Mary as mother to us—are truths we cannot be without.

Mother of Sorrows

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Mother of Sorrows
Patron of: Grief

When we are overwhelmed with grief, we turn to Mary, Mother of Jesus for help in our suffering. Throughout her life she endured much pain and sorrow and is fully able to empathize with anyone’s personal anguish. She endured the shame of being pregnant and unmarried, being poor, homelessness and having her only son unjustly imprisoned and executed. Most astonishing, Mary knew what was to befall her son yet had to see these events from God’s point of view and have faith that this was all for the good of mankind.

By meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a devotion from the Middle Ages, which uses scenes from the life of the Virgin Mother as a meditation on accepting the sorrowful part of life with grace.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are:

1) The Prophecy of Simeon. As a young child, when his parents presented him in the temple, Jesus was met by the holy man Simeon who predicted everything that would happen to him in his address to Mary: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted – and you yourself a sword will pierce so that thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35).

2) The Flight into Egypt. In Bethlehem, after the birth of Christ, Joseph had a vision of an angel warning him of the impending slaughter of any male child under the age of two by King Herod in order to prevent the coming Messiah. The Holy Family had to travel a secretive route to Egypt and remain in that country until Herod died. Mary not only worried for the welfare of her own son but mourn for the murdered children left behind.

3) The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. While on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the 12 year old Jesus vanished from his family. His heartsick parents finally found him three days later, arguing with elders in the temple.

4) The Meeting of Jesus with His Cross. Mary watched helplessly as her son was ridiculed and mocked as he stumbled, carrying the cross he was to be executed on.

5) The Crucifixion. As he was nailed to the cross, most of his disciples ran away. Mary never wavered as she stood at the foot of the cross, witnessing her son’s agony and death.

6) Jesus Taken Down from the Cross. Mary held her dead son’s wound covered body. This, her greatest sorrow is known as the “Pieta”.

7) The Burial of Jesus. As the stone was rolled, closing up his tomb, Mary had to say her final goodbye to her earthly son. Her faith had to be sincerely tested as there was no hint of the resurrection to come.
Prayer

Most holy and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, you stood beneath the cross, witnessing the agony of your dying son. Look with a mother’s tenderness and pity on me, who kneel before you. I venerate your sorrows and I place my requests with filial confidence in the sanctuary of your wounded heart. Present them, I beseech you, on my behalf to Jesus Christ, through the merits of his own most sacred passion and death, together with your sufferings at the foot of the cross. Through the united efficacy of both, obtain the granting of my petition. To whom shall I have recourse in my wants and miseries if not to you, Mother of Mercy? You have drunk so deeply of the chalice of your son, you can compassionate our sorrows. Holy Mary, your soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the sight of the passion of your divine son. Intercede for me and obtain from Jesus (mention your request) if it be for his honor and glory and for my good. Amen.