Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.March 12, 2018

Examen Logo

Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Google Play

Lent is drawing to a close. For Christians, that means not only is there some anticipation for the celebration of Easter, but also some inevitable disappointment about your Lenten spiritual practices. Maybe you resolved to do something that you didn’t do--like pray more. Or you resolved not to do something that you did do--like gossip less. So maybe you feel a bit stuck. That’s really common in the spiritual life. Everyone feels disappointment. The key is, simple as it sounds, not giving up. God gives you a new opportunity for spiritual growth every day.

And that’s not some generic offer from God. I mean that God gives you, personally, a new invitation for you to grow spiritually every single day. That’s something to think about as you do your examen. Where did you respond to that invitation?

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, by J.D. Long García
J.D. Long GarcíaJanuary 31, 2025
A timeline of the Vatican’s decade-long history of leadership in the field of A.I. ethics—a history that has earned it significant influence among tech leaders, particularly at Microsoft and IBM
Colleen DulleJanuary 31, 2025
A man carries a bag of wheat supplied by Catholic Relief Services and USAID for emergency food assistance in a village near Shashemane, Ethiopia, in this 2016 photo. (CNS Photo/Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services)
Most humanitarian agencies operate just ahead of insolvency in the best of times, Nate Radomski, the executive director of American Jesuits International, says.
Kevin ClarkeJanuary 31, 2025
Peter Sarsgaard, left, as Roone Arledge in ‘September 5’ (Paramount Pictures)
“September 5,” a claustrophobic chronicle of the ABC sports journalists who brought the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack to 900 million viewers, is a story of confidence and failure.
Ryan Di CorpoJanuary 31, 2025