Jul 24 Fri
Should I examine my conscience daily?
Why should I foster a spirit of examination?
“Rectify. A little each day. This must be your constant task if you really want to become a saint." A sure way to advance is trusting God more and trusting ourselves less.
To fall is not a failure; failure is to remain where you have fallen.
The examination of conscience is a powerful weapon for acquiring serenity and proportion, for coming to know ourselves better and coming to know God better.
We do love our Lord, and we are full of the desire to love him more every day. But those desires are not enough. Love means deeds! We must make sure that our actions match our desires.
This is why we struggle, and this is why we need the examination of conscience. It is indispensable.
To carry out great projects, we must tackle the little details that ravage our lives: small failures in sincerity, love, or sacrifice. And is there any business more important than the business of eternal life?
This is what we aim to do when we examine our conscience: to discover the small faults that hold us back from total service to God and souls.
Our examination of conscience makes us see what God wants of us day by day. Our spirit of examination leads us to ask ourselves repeatedly: "Am I doing what God wants me to, now, and in the way He wants me to do it?" This attitude is a natural one because love motivates us. If we are aware of being in God's presence and are trying to please him in everything, a spirit of examination is simply a manifestation of our love.
Our spirit of examination reflects the sensitivity of our love, together with our ever-present concern to improve how we do things, aiming to have pure intention in everything. Then we can really understand the words of Jeremiah: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one drifts away, does he not turn around?
We spend time examining our conscience every day. At the end of each day, we stop for a few minutes before God. We ask the Holy Spirit for light, and in a calm, humble dialogue with our heavenly Father, we look and see what our service has been like today. Two or three minutes are enough:
- Place yourself in the presence of God, recognizing his strength and your weakness. Tell him: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”
- Ask your guardian angel for light to acknowledge your defects and virtues and examine your conscience with sincerity:
"What have I done wrong? Forgive me, Lord.
What have I done well? Thank you, Lord.
What could I have done better?" – followed by a resolution.
It just takes two minutes, or half a minute.
- Then, sorrow. Make an act of contrition, asking our Lord’s pardon.
- Resolution. Make a specific resolution for tomorrow.
- Pray three Hail Marys to the Virgin Mary, asking for the virtue of purity for yourself and your loved ones.
And that's it.