Daily Examen

Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, was an expert in the art of spiritual direction. One of the exercises he suggested was the Daily Examen, a technique of prayerful reflection on the events that take place during the day as a method of remaining in God's presence and discerning his will. It is a simple enough technique that Ignatius suggests we do twice daily - at noon, and at the end of the day.

These are the steps:

1. Become aware of God’s presence.
Look on the events of the day, seeking God's presence in them all, even those moments when everything seems confusing and meaningless, and God appears missing from it all. He is there and we will realize it when we look for him with Spirit filled eyes.

2. Review the day with gratitude.
Every single thing that happens in our lives is a blessing and we need to look at these things, simple though they might be, with gratitude. The water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the health we enjoy: they are all blessings. Gratitude is a sign that we don't take any of it for granted.

3. Pay attention to your emotions.
We can learn a lot from reflecting on our emotions. Did we get angry or impatient about something? What brought it on? With the help of the Holy Spirit, not only can we become aware of our shortcomings so that we may seek his help to overcome them, but we may also obtain insights into God's plans for us. For instance, if something we planned is not working out in the manner we expected causing extreme annoyance, maybe it is not something that God wants us to do. What is it that he does want?

4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.
Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to something that God thinks is particularly important. It may be a chance encounter that you had with somebody that left you in turmoil. Or it may be something that happened that got you excited. Or it may be something that seems totally without significance, yet your attention is led to it. Pray about it, allowing the prayer to arise spontaneously from your heart—be it intercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude.

5. Look toward tomorrow.
Ask God to help you to face up to the challenges of the next day, paying attention to the feelings that surface as you ponder about what lies in store. What do you feel? Anxious? Excited? Afraid? We can turn these feelings into prayer, seeking God's guidance and understanding about how to prepare for the day ahead and how best to live it.

We can end the Daily Examen, as Ignatius recommeds, with a conversation with Jesus, asking for forgiveness for our sins, seeking his wisdom in dealing with the problems that we face, looking for protection from temptation and adversity, and anything else we are moved to communicate with him about, all in a spirit of gratitude.