A Lenten Examen
reflection by Ashley Brooks
Lent invites us into the quiet honesty of the heart. It is a season of turning inward and listening deeply to the Spirit who is always with us, a season of reflection. In the spirit of St. Ignatius, who offers us the gentle reflection prayer of the Examen, we pause not to judge ourselves, but to notice. Where is God meeting us in this quiet season? Where are we invited to love?
We offer this Lenten Examen as a way to help you explore your heart alongside God. You may wish to pray with it in one sitting or revisit it throughout the weeks of Lent. Allow these questions to settle in your heart. Open yourself to what they may be stirring within you.
1. Arrive in Gratitude
Settle into your seat and take a few slow, deep breaths. With each exhale, feel yourself being supported where you are.
Begin by becoming aware of God’s loving gaze upon you. Thank God for meeting you in this moment. Imagine yourself inhaling God’s holy, unconditional love. Ask God for the grace to help you move through the following reflections with a Divine perspective, seeing yourself as God sees you: beloved.
2. Notice Love
Call to mind the past few months, perhaps since Advent or the beginning of this calendar year. Where have you experienced grace? Where have you been most able to give and receive love? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you call to mind any significant moments, such as:
a conversation that carried joy
a retreat or gathering that widened your heart
a moment of silence that felt full rather than empty
a time when you experienced hope and love despite difficult circumstances
a place where you felt alive with your experience of the sacred
Give thanks to God for these specific experiences that have nourished you. Spend a moment in prayerful reflection, and ask God if there is an invitation here. Consider how you may honor this invitation throughout the remaining days of Lent.
3. Notice Moments You’re Not Grateful For
We all experience emotions and events that we are not grateful for; it’s part of being human. Again, think over the past few weeks and months, asking the Holy Spirit to help you call to mind significant moments you were not grateful for. Where were you least able to give and receive love?
These may be times such as:
an experience of grief, despair, or heartache
a time where you felt isolated, abandoned, or misunderstood
a moment when you acted out of anger or fear
a time when God felt distant in prayer
Noticing these moments of desolation isn’t always easy. Lent reminds us that even Jesus spent time in the desert. Each person has these movements in their spiritual journey. Offer them back to God, holding them loosely, without shame or the urge to “fix” a situation. Accept God’s unconditional love and grace in this moment.
4. Respond with Compassion
As a reflective season, Lent can offer us holy clarity. Now that you’ve spent some time looking backward, we invite you to take this prayer experience forward with you.
What is stirring in you for the remainder of Lent?
A longing for deeper prayer?
A desire to foster new community or to reach out to someone you don’t know well?
A call to forgive someone or repair a relationship?
An offer to simply be, resting in the perfect love of God?
5. Close with Gratitude
End your prayer practice with a few more deep breaths. Again, picture yourself inhaling God’s love for you. As you’re filled with this love, close with gratitude to God for joining you in this space.
Lent with Sacred Ground
Sacred Ground is hosting several events this Lenten season. We invite you to join us at any or all of these offerings.
On Saturday, March 14, our online Sacred Circle community will meet to foster a space for inclusion and belonging. We gather using a “third thing” such as a poem or reading, followed by optional opportunities for group sharing. Join us to listen deeply and be present to one another’s stories.
Join us for our monthly Groundings lecture series on March 17. This month’s speaker is spiritual director and author Felicia Murrell, who invites us to learn about the Restorative Power of Love. Learn more and register here.
Our March Spiritual Director Development Series is Into the Interior with Diane Millis. In this session, she will introduce us to a framework for listening with the ear of our hearts and invite us to practice heeding the whispers in our hearts at this moment in time. Learn more and register here.
Finally, we humbly ask you to hold Sacred Ground itself in prayer this Lenten season. We rely on your community, your prayers, and your generous donations to support our work of offering the transformative gift of spiritual direction to the world around us. If you feel called during this sacred time of the liturgical year, we would gratefully accept your prayers or donations as we continue to do this sacred work. Click here to donate today.
May this season draw you more deeply into relationship with Jesus, who is already waiting for you and calling you beloved.