Dr Joe Neary, a retired GP living in Birdlip, is a spiritual director and teaches on the Gloucestershire Spirituality Course. He explains how the practice of daily Examen can help to develop your prayer life.
“Jesus tells us that the principal purpose of our being, the first and greatest commandment, is to “love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength”. So what gets in the way? Why is this so difficult for us?
I think that the answer to this lies in our tendency to become entangled with created things. One example is Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man. Seeing how entangled he was with his many possessions, Jesus tells him, if he would be perfect, to sell all he has, give it all away and come follow him.
In another encounter, the fundamental problem is the same, but the entanglement is different. Jesus speaks to a woman at Jacob’s well, and offers her the water that comes from him, the spring of water that wells up to eternal life. As she asks for this miraculous solution to her perpetual thirst, Jesus immediately refers to her history of failed relationships. These, maybe, are the source of her entanglements. These are what prevent her from reaching out in love to her Creator. The light dawns. Full of excitement with this revelation, the woman rushes back to her village to spread the word.
As with the rich young man, so with the woman at the well, so it is with each and every one of us. We entangle ourselves with created things. These are not bad in themselves. Used carefully, with an eye to our Creator, the source and purpose of our being, these things can be good. It is when we forget the basic purpose of our being, the greatest commandment, and become attached to created things for their own sake that we become entangled. We hopefully “return to the well” again and again looking for satisfaction of our unslakable thirst, only to become further entangled in a cycle of futility. We are looking to the wrong solution for our thirst. We forget that, as St Augustine wrote, God made us for Himself, and our souls cannot find rest until they rest in Him.
So take a few minutes each day. Place yourself in the presence of the God whom you are called to love. Thank Him for the gifts which He has given you today. Run your mind back over the events of the day, recalling those joys and gifts and how you received them. Did you receive them with a thankful open heart? If not, why not? Where were you entangled? Resolve to do better tomorrow. Finish with the Grace. That is the daily Examen.”
