constant war within 2

The Consul’s 1st discourse on the dark side and how to combat it part 2

Socrates’ immortal words – “An unexamined life is not worth living”. St. Ignatius really took this statement seriously. In his Spiritual Exercises, he created an innovative prayer designed to recall a day’s event examining all our thoughts and actions. A daily silent recollection which starts in the morning, noon and evening recalling all our actions; good or bad, recalling our core values, reminding us of our mission, thanking God for all the blessings from a stranger’s smile to a cup of milk and resolving to do better for the next day. A simple 5 minutes of silence and prayer twice a day gives something to the soul which worldly pleasures could never substitute. It acts as a spring board for new energy to win the day. It reinvigorates our soul. It re-energizes our spirit. It pushes us to be more heroic. This is the Awareness Examen, a prayer that helps us to become more aware of God’s presence in our day. With this very fast moving world, it is essential for the soul to pause daily even for five minutes just to talk to our God, the ultimate source of all our energy thus combating laziness, pessimism and other traits of the Dark Side. This is an essential practice as a soldier for God.

1. Asking for Insight from the Holy Spirit.
2. Looking at my day. Recall a moment by moment account for the past hours.
3. Thanksgiving. Thanking God for all the graces received for the day. It can be from a simple new lesson, a meeting of an old friend or a new life realization.
4. We ask Forgiveness. With the gifts, we note the gaffs. We recall our failure to respond to God’s love and all our errors.
5. Looking to Tomorrow. Ask God to invigorate our spirits more, affirm more our core values, and resolve to be more heroic as a soldier of God.

God loves you!