5 October 2013
Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus exhorts his disciples to gratitude, specifically for the gift of the Incarnation and their proximity to such an amazing gift. In our own daily examen, St. Ignatius urges us to begin with a review of the day focused on gratitude. After this, we are to review the day focusing on our conscience. In the name of efficiency, sometimes we might blend together these two reviews and do them at the same time. But it is wiser to stay close to St. Ignatius’ guidelines.
Going first through our day looking only for God’s gifts is needed before we start the difficult process of self-critique. If the latter is done without consciousness of God’s gratuitous love, we are likely to descend into a perfectionism or gloom about our faults. Even if we do not have time for a full examen, could it ever hurt to stop for a few seconds and recall the gifts of God, letting gratitude spring up naturally from these thoughts?