Daily Examen

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 Let's get back to St. Ignatius of Loyola. This time in his Examen to see and give thanks to all the works of God small and mighty.

Some Jesuits (for example, Fr. James Martin, SJ, and Fr. David Fleming, SJ) have indeed summarized the Examen in this way:

> If you remember nothing else about the Examen, remember this: begin with gratitude — and let everything flow from that. -ChatGPT-5, 12 August 2025

This is the shortest I can get for you my atheist friend just so you understand what it is and cater it to one's need or situation. If discernment is for decision making when crossroads are ahead of us, the Examen is a daily practice to atune ourselves to God's movement.

The Ignatian Examen

St. Ignatius invites us to find God in all things. That means we have to pay careful attention to how the Spirit is moving in each moment of our daily lives. We have to take a magnifying glass to the seemingly ordinary, seeking to encounter the Divine. 

That’s why the Examen is such a powerful prayer. In it, we’re invited to encounter God, express gratitude for the gift and gifts of each day, and to commit to make up for any mistakes we may have made. 

The Examen is a flexible prayer, too, responding to the signs of the times. Below, you’ll find several variations to meet your need in this moment.

How to Pray the Examen

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.” -https://www.jesuits.org/spirituality/the-ignatian-examen/

 What has become a part of my life though is gratitude. What am I grateful for? It's the central theme and atmosphere of the Examen. And yet these past few days were critical since I'm questioning myself what I have done to bolster my career or working life. Bracketing out gratitude when doing such soul searching even for just a part of my life like my working life, is not a good idea, as I have learned. As a believer in God bracketing God out as we've learned is also not a good idea since its part of our fundamental or ontological being. It seems the idea of God and the idea of gratitude is a mingled one. And we've seen that changing axis to answer our question about what happened to my career is maybe where the answer lies. Sort of what gratitude should be also for now.

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