Regular examination

IT’S usually associated with school life, often striking

fear and terror on the poor students. But it actually should be

associated with all of us, and in fact, in all the levels and aspects

of our life. It’s a necessity for our effectiveness, if not, for our

very survival.

            Thus, in our more collective life of business and

politics, there are regular auditing and reporting to be made. We have

just heard, for example, the President’s report on the state of the

nation (SONA) which, in a way, is precisely an exercise of

examination.

            To do regular examination is a must for all of us to see

if our life, our behavior, our conscience are still on the right

track. Otherwise, we open ourselves to all kinds of deviations.

            It’s part of our human condition that we go through our

life having to make decisions, or at least to react to all kinds of

stimuli, internal or external, personal or social, material or

spiritual, etc.. All these we need to judge whether they are right or

wrong according to some relevant moral criteria.

            Let’s hope that this need for regular examination be felt

by all of us, especially in the personal level, since the vitality and

effectiveness of our life, from its personal level to its most global

and even cosmic dimensions, greatly depends on that exercise.

            It’s there in the examination of conscience where we

review our performance of the day in the moral sense. After all, the

moral quality of our life, the result of our moral human acts, holds

ultimate value over the other aspects of our life.

            It’s in the examination of conscience where we sort out

things, trying to identify the motives of our thoughts, desires, words

and actions, and seeing if these motives are good or bad. This is not

an easy task at all. But with regular examination, somehow we can get

a good picture and devise the appropriate strategies.

            It’s in the examination of conscience where we would have

a running account of the state of our soul. If we truly recognize the

objective value of our soul, then it would be most logical for us to

do everything to keep it healthy, strong and fruitful. The condition

of our soul ultimately determines the quality of our life.

            And so, we would give priority to this act of piety that

actually would require just a little time, about 3 minutes, and

usually done at the end of the day, just before going to bed.

            Obviously, some effort has to be exerted, and sometimes,

heroic effort, since we have to contend with our usual weaknesses of

laziness, mental and physical, and complacency, lukewarmness, shallow

thinking, and all kinds of distractions.

            Our tendency is to get easily dominated by our

here-and-now conditions and often failing to see the bigger picture

that usually requires more investment on our part in terms of time,

interest and effort. We have to be ready to do battle against this

tendency.

            Besides, to make the examination of conscience, we need to

put ourselves first in the presence of God, since that exercise is not

simply a matter of psychologizing ourselves, or tweaking our emotional

state, or doing some introspection.

            We have to be wary not to fall into downgrading this

crucial act of piety into a mere psychological or emotional exercise.

We would not see things properly that way. Worse, we most likely would

get unnecessarily entangled with complicated situations.

            To be able to see the objective state of our soul, we need

to see it together with God who gives us the true light, more

penetrating than our X-rays and more extensive than what the sun can

cover.

            With God, that is, with faith and trust in him, no matter

how ugly the state of our soul may be, we can always be reassured of

his mercy and help. When the examination of conscience is done this

way, there will always be peace and joy in the end.

            Sure, there will be elements of fear, embarrassment, etc.,

involved, but love and mercy will win at the end of the day. We just

have to make sure that our examination of conscience is an intimate,

filial encounter with God our Father who is all too eager to

understand us, to pardon us and to help us in our needs.

            If done properly, the examination of conscience is

actually a very happy moment for all of us, and a very good way to end

the day. When we say, “Sorry, Lord,” somehow things are patched up.