Examen

Why is praying the Act of Contrition helpful in growing as disciple? Because by our contrition, we open ourselves to God’s fatherly and merciful heart. After his infidelity with Bathsheba, King David prayed another act of contrition, Psalm 51, which concludes: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” We would do well to follow David’s example of offering our contrite hearts to the Lord each day.

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy.

If we want God to forgive our sins, we must be sorry for our sins; We must be contrite. Contrition is itself a working of grace. Perfect Contrition arises in our hearts when we detest our sins because we do not want to offend the One we love. Imperfect Contrition arises not from love, but from a fear of eternal damnation. While our contrition may be motived out of fear in the early stages of discipleship, the goal for a disciple is to hate our sins out of love for God.

Hence, my challenge this week: I want each of us to recite nightly the Act of Contrition. It is my hope that in doing this we will memorize this prayer.

SIX STEPS

Step One: Be Still. Take a moment to acknowledge God’s love for you and presence in this very moment. Rest with him in silence and stillness. Take a few deep breathes. 

Step Two: Thankfulness. Invite the Lord to show you what of this day you are most grateful for…small or big things...joyful moments or challenging ones that brought growth. Thank Him.

Step Three: Review your day. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead this time of reflection, helping you see with the eyes of God what took place in your day.  Take note where you had joy, life, energy, peace, closeness to God and where you had darkness, dryness, anxiety, heaviness of heart, etc.  Ask the Lord for understanding of the meaning of the various spiritual movements you’ve experienced.

Step Four: Repentance. As you look back across you day, see those moments where you sinned or fell short of saying “yes” to God’s promptings in given situation. And then? Ask God for forgiveness. You can use whatever words of sorrow well up from your heart or, if it is a help, you can employ a traditional text such as the following:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Step Five: Look forward to tomorrow. Ask God to show you ways you can learn from today’s experiences in order to make better choices tomorrow. 

Step Six: A Moment of Gratitude. Give thanks for this time of prayer and the inspirations God brought with our own words or perhaps by praying a Glory Be or a Hail Mary.