The Examen with Fr. James Martin, SJ

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 4th Week of Easter. New reflections will be added every Monday.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 4th Week of Easter. New reflections will be added every Monday.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 4th Week of Easter. New reflections will be added every Monday.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 4th Week of Easter. New reflections will be added every Monday.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 4th Week of Easter. New reflections will be added every Monday.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

We'll continue to use the same reflection and examen for the rest of the 4th Week of Easter. New reflections will be added every Monday.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

Because today is Monday, we have a new reflection for the week.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful.

Because today is Monday, we have a new reflection for the week.

Easter, as I mentioned last week, is a whole season.  Because it takes us a while to celebrate the Resurrection.  You know, one reason was probably so hard for the disciples to even begin to understand the Resurrection is because no one had ever experienced it before!  They didn’t know what they were experiencing. You can see traces of that in the Gospels. In some appearances the Risen Christ seems physical. He eats solid food and says, “Touch me and see that I’m not a ghost.”  In others, he seems non-physical. He can, apparently, walk through walls. In some appearances, it’s quite clearly Jesus, in others the disciples can’t recognize him at first. To me, this is a reminder of how difficult it is to explain powerful religious experiences: the disciples probably had a hard time communicating what they had seen.  But just because you can’t explain something doesn’t mean it’s not real. This week you might ask yourself if you’ve had any experiences latterly that are inexplicable, but also meaningful. 

A new reflection for the 4th week of Easter will be added on Monday.

Easter, as one of my Jesuit friends always reminds me, is not just a day, but a whole liturgical season. This makes sense, of course. The Easter event, that is, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is simply too big a truth to be celebrated in just one day. Notice I didn’t say a truth to be “understood,” I said “celebrated.” Because, in the end, the Resurrection is a mystery, something to be pondered not to be figured out. But that besides pondering the mystery of the Resurrection in our prayer, we can also see signs of it in our lives. Places that seemed dead suddenly come alive. Relationships that had been frozen over thaw, and then warm. Parts of ourselves that seem impossible for God to change suddenly turn around, and we find ourselves growing. So perhaps one invitation this week is to look for signs of the Resurrection within you. Where do you see the mystery of new life in your daily life? And, Happy Easter.

A new reflection for the 4th week of Easter will be added on Monday.

Easter, as one of my Jesuit friends always reminds me, is not just a day, but a whole liturgical season. This makes sense, of course. The Easter event, that is, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is simply too big a truth to be celebrated in just one day. Notice I didn’t say a truth to be “understood,” I said “celebrated.” Because, in the end, the Resurrection is a mystery, something to be pondered not to be figured out. But that besides pondering the mystery of the Resurrection in our prayer, we can also see signs of it in our lives. Places that seemed dead suddenly come alive. Relationships that had been frozen over thaw, and then warm. Parts of ourselves that seem impossible for God to change suddenly turn around, and we find ourselves growing. So perhaps one invitation this week is to look for signs of the Resurrection within you. Where do you see the mystery of new life in your daily life? And, Happy Easter.