A Plan of Life – Chapter 7: Examination of Conscience

CHAPTER 7: EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

In medieval castles, the night watch was effective and indeed indispensable. Is an enemy nearby? Are the gates secure? A sense of security and peace follow only when everything is put in order. The examination of conscience is like the night

watch of our personal castles. In it we correct what has to be corrected and pronounce a sincere thanks to God, thereby allowing a real peace to settle upon us.

St. Josemaria has noted: “Examination of conscience [is a] daily task. Bookkeeping [is] never neglected by anyone in business. And is there any business worth more than that of eternal life?”

Examining our conscience enables us to know ourselves better. The ancient philosopher Thales of Miletus wrote: “The most difficult thing is to know oneself, the easiest is to criticize others.” That most difficult thing is precisely what St. Paul recommends: “Let each one examine his own deeds” (Galatians 6:4).

The examination of conscience is a sign of an active interior life, for it entails an element of personal struggle. It also presupposes humility — the recognition that we have defects, that we are worth very little, that we are sinners who want to be better. Moreover, the examination of conscience shows our love of God in the desire to rid ourselves of everything that separates us from him, and in it we seek closer union in order to love him more.

This practice can be difficult for a number of reasons — weariness after the day’s work, sleepiness, the fear that we will only discover the same things over and over again, and the disappointment of our repeated failures. For all these reasons, it is the hour to “beware of the devil that ties your tongue.”

We may begin by asking: How did I pray today? How have I treated others? How did I do my work? Then we go on to examine our faithfulness to our norms of piety, and how we have dealt with our family and friends. A PLAN OF LIFE 17 HELPING YOU FIND GOD WHEREVER YOU ARE Throughout, we should be interested in examining the “how” of things. By considering how things have actually gone, we can discover how they should have gone, thus giving rise to our resolutions for the next day. The examination of conscience is not a single day’s task but a daily one; for indeed, sanctity is the work of a lifetime. In a calm nightly review of each day’s activities we may be surprised to discover that our mistakes are frighteningly ordinary, and that they persist like the squeaking of a rusty wheel.

Heavy summer storms used to prompt us to bring out the water pails. Though the rain would have evaporated on its own, and it certainly would have caused no one to drown, it was nonetheless clear that the moisture might eventually ruin the floors, and so the rain merited attention. Similarly, our mistakes may be small, but they occur every day. Keep a written record of your daily examination of conscience for a whole week, and you will discover the leaks in your life. And be mindful of the adage: “Whoever does not repair the leak will eventually have to repair the whole house.


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