MQ: Practicing Ignatian Examen

The Examen is a prayer practice, articulated and made popular by a man who came to be known as Ignatius of Loyola – born in the late 15th C in Northern Spain. It is, in short, a way of listening to ourselves and to God. It is a practice of listening contemplatively to our own lives. It is a tool for discerning the presence and absence of God in our lives.

God is constantly revealing himself to us in our experience. It is because God is present and available to human experience that we have a divinely inspired story to tell. Someone has called it – reading the scripture of our life…

St Ignatius, in his teaching of the Examen expected that God would speak through our deepest feelings and yearning, what he called consolation and desolation. Consolation is whatever helps us to connect in love to ourselves, others, God and the universe. In his language – whatever leads to an increase in faith, hope and love. Desolation is whatever blocks that connection…

So what follows is this – if we can reflect upon what in our life connects us to Life, love, faith, hope, peace… the qualities of the spirit… we can track where it is God is most available to us – or, more precisely, where we are most available to God. And the opposite – if we can see where it is we are being drained of life – and then think about how we block God in those areas… This is not the same as feeling merely good or bad.

The point is – to discern God’s presence and will is no longer a case of looking ‘out there’ – but inside…
The Examen is traditionally done on a daily basis – but can usefully be applied to all sorts of other times –
Taken from:www.freshworship.org/zine/examen.html

We apply this practice during our MQ retreats by asking the question, “When did you feel most alive today? When did you feel the life draining from you?”