As witnesses to the Christian way of life we gather to worship and we raise the Scriptures before us to proclaim, “This is the Word of the Lord”!  These words spoken in a prayerful setting fit so naturally yet, in the common experiences of life we need to reflect on God’s Word and our own words.  How does God challenge us daily to unite our words with “the Word of the Lord”?
 
   To live the life of a Christian is as challenging today as it was when Jesus first proclaimed “A new law I give you. You must love one another”.  Among the laity of centuries since medieval days, as well as an established aspect of each day of a religious through the years there has been and is a time in the evening moments of prayer when there is a pause from the unified words of recited prayer.  This time of personal reflection is called the examen.
 
   This examen has five basic steps: to give thanks to God, recalling the blessings of the day, to review the events of the day from waking to the final moments of the day, to focus on the sense of sorrow remembering any actions or words for which to be sorry, to recall any actions for which the person should ask forgiveness of God or others and, lastly, to ask the grace needed for the next day and to see God’s presence in all. 
 
   Why not adapt this to our own evening moments of prayer?  What are the words we have used during the day?  Were they the words with which our Lord comforted and taught.  Were our words those of reconciliation and peace?  Were they words of greeting and inclusiveness, or were our words an expression of criticism or of anger?  Were our words harsh, bitter and divisive?
 
   This simple practice included in our evening prayer is the making of our holiness.  We are, in a sense, the Word of God lived out as an apostle of the Gospel.  “Go, live the Mass” or, more commonly, “Let us go forth to love one another as God has loved us” is the final exhortation of the Word of God heard and internalized.  The Eucharist has become the Love of God which energizes and focuses His Word.  The daily examen is an excellent format by which we make ourselves accountable to God’s commission to bear Christ to the world.  Our world needs those who carry the Word of God into the marketplace.  There we exemplify the Gospel message with our words and with our actions. The daily examen can be a guide and a challenge.  It also can portray the power of His Word.

Father Gregory is Pastor of Saint Charles ChurchVisit St. Charles' Website  Here