The Examen and the Our Father - Susie Hii

St Ignatius suggests ending the Examen with an Our Father. I could see four of the five steps of the Examen quite clearly in that great prayer Jesus gave us.

Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name.

This is step 1 of the Examen – give praise and thanks to God for gifts and favours received. I would like to add here Tony de Mello’s words about gratitude: ‘The day you can be grateful for every single thing in your life, your heart will fill with contentment and with never-ending joy. The secret of being always joyful is to be always grateful’ (Sadhana: A Way to God).

Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

In step 3, when we examine our day, we are in effect reflecting on feelings that tell us whether God’s kingdom came during the day, and whether we did his will or not during the day. There are the more obvious feelings that lead to thanks and praise (step 1) or a need for forgiveness (step 4) and there are the more subtle ones that may elude us if we do not take the time to reflect.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Step 2 – Ask God for light and guidance. At the start of the day, we ask for God’s help thoughout the day. At night, we ask for the Spirit’s help to look at ourselves ‘without condemnation but without complacency’. We ask for ‘an interior knowledge of God’s presence to us today’ (Patrick O’Sullivan, God Knows How to Come Back Home).

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Step 4 – reconciliation. We recall the times when we have hurt others and when others have hurt us, and ask for God’s forgiveness of us, and our forgiveness of others.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Step 5 – Resolve not to stray from God. Add to that our desires to grow closer to God, to do his will, to let his kingdom come in our lives.

Saying the Our Father at the start and end of each day, practising the Examen daily, helps us to increase awareness of God in our day, in the here and now, to narrow our lives down to more manageable one day at a time. ‘Give us today our daily bread’. We ask for enough sustenance just for this day.

Susie Hii is a member of CLC and has been a contributor to Madonna for a number of years. This is a piece from her new book, Happy, Healthy, Holy. Look for it at your local religious bookstore.