The Examen with Fr. James Martin, SJ

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday.  

In the next few weeks, I’m going to talk a little bit about what happens in prayer. In other words, what happens when you close your eyes? The Examen is a prayer of noticing where God has been during your day, but what happens in other prayer periods, where you are meditating on the Bible or just being in the presence of God? Well, one of the most common experiences are emotions. All sorts of emotions come up in prayer. If you read a story about Jesus healing someone, you might feel sadness that you’re not healed. If you are meditating on God’s presence in nature, you might feel a sense of comfort. If you’re at Mass and are praying along with the congregation you might feel joy. All of these are ways of God speaking to you. So can you see in that sadness an invitation to be honest with God about your feelings? Can you see in that comfort God comforting you? And can you feel in that joy an invitation to experience new life. A lot of times people dismiss such prayer experiences as, “Oh I was just being emotional.” Usually that’s not the case.  It’s probably communicating God with you. So pay attention.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday.  

In the next few weeks, I’m going to talk a little bit about what happens in prayer. In other words, what happens when you close your eyes? The Examen is a prayer of noticing where God has been during your day, but what happens in other prayer periods, where you are meditating on the Bible or just being in the presence of God? Well, one of the most common experiences are emotions. All sorts of emotions come up in prayer. If you read a story about Jesus healing someone, you might feel sadness that you’re not healed. If you are meditating on God’s presence in nature, you might feel a sense of comfort. If you’re at Mass and are praying along with the congregation you might feel joy. All of these are ways of God speaking to you. So can you see in that sadness an invitation to be honest with God about your feelings? Can you see in that comfort God comforting you? And can you feel in that joy an invitation to experience new life. A lot of times people dismiss such prayer experiences as, “Oh I was just being emotional.” Usually that’s not the case.  It’s probably communicating God with you. So pay attention.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday.  

In the next few weeks, I’m going to talk a little bit about what happens in prayer. In other words, what happens when you close your eyes? The Examen is a prayer of noticing where God has been during your day, but what happens in other prayer periods, where you are meditating on the Bible or just being in the presence of God? Well, one of the most common experiences are emotions. All sorts of emotions come up in prayer. If you read a story about Jesus healing someone, you might feel sadness that you’re not healed. If you are meditating on God’s presence in nature, you might feel a sense of comfort. If you’re at Mass and are praying along with the congregation you might feel joy. All of these are ways of God speaking to you. So can you see in that sadness an invitation to be honest with God about your feelings? Can you see in that comfort God comforting you? And can you feel in that joy an invitation to experience new life. A lot of times people dismiss such prayer experiences as, “Oh I was just being emotional.” Usually that’s not the case.  It’s probably communicating God with you. So pay attention.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday.  

In the next few weeks, I’m going to talk a little bit about what happens in prayer. In other words, what happens when you close your eyes? The Examen is a prayer of noticing where God has been during your day, but what happens in other prayer periods, where you are meditating on the Bible or just being in the presence of God? Well, one of the most common experiences are emotions. All sorts of emotions come up in prayer. If you read a story about Jesus healing someone, you might feel sadness that you’re not healed. If you are meditating on God’s presence in nature, you might feel a sense of comfort. If you’re at Mass and are praying along with the congregation you might feel joy. All of these are ways of God speaking to you. So can you see in that sadness an invitation to be honest with God about your feelings? Can you see in that comfort God comforting you? And can you feel in that joy an invitation to experience new life. A lot of times people dismiss such prayer experiences as, “Oh I was just being emotional.” Usually that’s not the case.  It’s probably communicating God with you. So pay attention.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday.  

In the next few weeks, I’m going to talk a little bit about what happens in prayer. In other words, what happens when you close your eyes? The Examen is a prayer of noticing where God has been during your day, but what happens in other prayer periods, where you are meditating on the Bible or just being in the presence of God? Well, one of the most common experiences are emotions. All sorts of emotions come up in prayer. If you read a story about Jesus healing someone, you might feel sadness that you’re not healed. If you are meditating on God’s presence in nature, you might feel a sense of comfort. If you’re at Mass and are praying along with the congregation you might feel joy. All of these are ways of God speaking to you. So can you see in that sadness an invitation to be honest with God about your feelings? Can you see in that comfort God comforting you? And can you feel in that joy an invitation to experience new life. A lot of times people dismiss such prayer experiences as, “Oh I was just being emotional.” Usually that’s not the case.  It’s probably communicating God with you. So pay attention.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday. 

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is a beautiful, mysterious and even confusing story, told in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the story, Jesus calls three of his disciples together—Peter, James and John—and leads them up on a mountain, the traditional place of revelation in the Bible, where he is “transfigured” before them. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling white, and he appears to be speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter is so thunderstruck that he says, “Let’s build three booths here,” so that they can worship Jesus. But Jesus tells them that they need to come down off the mountain.

Believe it or not, that’s very much like our own experiences in the spiritual life.  Sometimes we have a powerful spiritual experience—a moment in prayer, a special insight, an emotional time in church—and we want to do just what the disciples did. They say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” They want to stay. So do we. But God invites us to see that while we can enjoy the experience, at some point it’s time to get back to our daily lives. To bring the fruits of what we’ve experienced to others: by loving, forgiving and showing mercy. In short, after these experiences, beautiful as they are, it’s time to come down off the mountain.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday. 

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is a beautiful, mysterious and even confusing story, told in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the story, Jesus calls three of his disciples together—Peter, James and John—and leads them up on a mountain, the traditional place of revelation in the Bible, where he is “transfigured” before them. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling white, and he appears to be speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter is so thunderstruck that he says, “Let’s build three booths here,” so that they can worship Jesus. But Jesus tells them that they need to come down off the mountain.

Believe it or not, that’s very much like our own experiences in the spiritual life.  Sometimes we have a powerful spiritual experience—a moment in prayer, a special insight, an emotional time in church—and we want to do just what the disciples did. They say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” They want to stay. So do we. But God invites us to see that while we can enjoy the experience, at some point it’s time to get back to our daily lives. To bring the fruits of what we’ve experienced to others: by loving, forgiving and showing mercy. In short, after these experiences, beautiful as they are, it’s time to come down off the mountain.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday. 

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is a beautiful, mysterious and even confusing story, told in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the story, Jesus calls three of his disciples together—Peter, James and John—and leads them up on a mountain, the traditional place of revelation in the Bible, where he is “transfigured” before them. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling white, and he appears to be speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter is so thunderstruck that he says, “Let’s build three booths here,” so that they can worship Jesus. But Jesus tells them that they need to come down off the mountain.

Believe it or not, that’s very much like our own experiences in the spiritual life.  Sometimes we have a powerful spiritual experience—a moment in prayer, a special insight, an emotional time in church—and we want to do just what the disciples did. They say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” They want to stay. So do we. But God invites us to see that while we can enjoy the experience, at some point it’s time to get back to our daily lives. To bring the fruits of what we’ve experienced to others: by loving, forgiving and showing mercy. In short, after these experiences, beautiful as they are, it’s time to come down off the mountain.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday. 

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is a beautiful, mysterious and even confusing story, told in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the story, Jesus calls three of his disciples together—Peter, James and John—and leads them up on a mountain, the traditional place of revelation in the Bible, where he is “transfigured” before them. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling white, and he appears to be speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter is so thunderstruck that he says, “Let’s build three booths here,” so that they can worship Jesus. But Jesus tells them that they need to come down off the mountain.

Believe it or not, that’s very much like our own experiences in the spiritual life.  Sometimes we have a powerful spiritual experience—a moment in prayer, a special insight, an emotional time in church—and we want to do just what the disciples did. They say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” They want to stay. So do we. But God invites us to see that while we can enjoy the experience, at some point it’s time to get back to our daily lives. To bring the fruits of what we’ve experienced to others: by loving, forgiving and showing mercy. In short, after these experiences, beautiful as they are, it’s time to come down off the mountain.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time. New reflections will be added every Sunday. 

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is a beautiful, mysterious and even confusing story, told in all three of the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the story, Jesus calls three of his disciples together—Peter, James and John—and leads them up on a mountain, the traditional place of revelation in the Bible, where he is “transfigured” before them. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling white, and he appears to be speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter is so thunderstruck that he says, “Let’s build three booths here,” so that they can worship Jesus. But Jesus tells them that they need to come down off the mountain.

Believe it or not, that’s very much like our own experiences in the spiritual life.  Sometimes we have a powerful spiritual experience—a moment in prayer, a special insight, an emotional time in church—and we want to do just what the disciples did. They say, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” They want to stay. So do we. But God invites us to see that while we can enjoy the experience, at some point it’s time to get back to our daily lives. To bring the fruits of what we’ve experienced to others: by loving, forgiving and showing mercy. In short, after these experiences, beautiful as they are, it’s time to come down off the mountain.