Ignatius says it very simply:
"The fourth point will be to ask pardon of God our Lord for my faults." (#43, 4)
The Daily Examen, if it has been rightly practiced, has led you into awareness and discernment of the Presence and Work of God in your life, as well as your inner responses to God.
The Examen has enabled us to see our inadequacies, the wrong things we have done, the good things we have left undone. We are aware of our inner "disorders" and our "inordinate attachments." The Scriptures and the Exercises name all this as sin. We experience sorrow about our sin and also longing for God to be with us.
The natural response to this awareness of disorder is to ask forgiveness and to receive healing from the God who loves us.
We ask for forgiveness with great expectation, for we ask forgiveness of the Prodigal (lavish) God who loves and longs for us, who accepts and pardons us, who heals and restores us. (Luke 15:11-32)
We ask forgiveness of a Gracious God who has instructed us to forgive others 77 times (or 70 x 7 times). The God who counsels us to forgive in this way, does so, because He forgives us in this way. (Matthew 18:21-22).
We ask forgiveness of the Christ who prayed, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do" as He hung on the cross for our sins. (Luke 23:34)
So we ask with full expectancy of receiving forgiveness, freedom and healing.
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Your Daily Examen is almost over, just one more final part to this.
This week, practice the Examen several times, going through all the parts that have been described for you.
Pay attention to your experience of God as you do this.
Blessings and joy,
Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com
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