This was in Campus Ministries weekly e-newsletter. Thought I would share.
Individual Year-End Examen
Recall that you are in the presence of God.
No matter where you are, hilltop or valley, country or city, in a crowd or alone, you are a creature in the midst of creation. The Creator who called you forth is concerned for you. The Spirit of God, sent by Christ, will remind you that you are gifted to help bring creation to its fullness, to restore it to the Creator's way. Ask the Holy Spirit to let you look on all you see with love. "Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; . . . it does not rejoice in wrong but rejoices in the right. . . Love hopes all things." (1 Cor 13).
Give thanks to God for favors received.
Pause and spend a moment looking at this year's gifts. Be concrete! Recall the smile brought forth by an interaction with another, an act of patience, a success savored, a joy shared. Take stock of what you received and gave. Notice these clues that guide living.
Now look at your more permanent gifts that allowed your participation in this year and in this day. Recall your particular strengths in times of difficulty, your ability to hope in times of weakness, your sense of humor and your life of faith, your intelligence and health, your family and friends. God the Creator gives these things to you to draw you into the fullness of life.
Ask for awareness of the Holy Spirit's aid.
Before you explore the mystery of the human heart, ask to receive the Holy Spirit so that you can look upon your actions and motives with honesty and patience. "When the spirit of truth comes she will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit inspires you to see with growing freedom the development of your life story. The Spirit gives a freedom to look upon yourself without condemnation and without complacency and thus open to growth. "Love hopes all things." (1 Cor 13:7)
Now examine how you have lived this year.
Recalling the events of your year, explore the context of your actions. Review the year, month by month, searching for the internal events of your life. Look through the experiences to see your interaction with what was before you - in the classroom, in your living situation, in your relationships with family, friends, your significant other, mentors and peers, in your work, in your service, in your leisure time, personally. Ask what you were involved in and who you were with, and review your hopes and hesitations. Many situations may show you that your heart was divided - wavering between helping and disregarding, scoffing and encouraging, listening and ignoring, rebuking and forgiving, speaking and silence, neglecting and thanking. See the opportunities for growth in faith, hope, and charity and how you responded. In each instance that comes to mind, what moved you to act the way you did?
Notice where you acted freely - picking a particular course of action from the possibilities you saw. See where you now sense you were swept along without freedom.
See where the Spirit entered your decisions and where you might have paused to receive this influence. "Test yourselves," St. Paul urges, "to see whether you are living in faith; examine yourselves. Perhaps you yourselves do not realize that Christ Jesus is in you." (1 Cor)
Pray words of reconciliation and resolve.
"The word of God is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance. See, today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. . . Choose life." (Duet 18)
Now, having reviewed this year of your life, look upon yourself with compassion and see your need for God and try to realize God's manifestations of concern for you. Express sorrow for sin, the obscuring darkness that surrounds us all, and especially ask forgiveness for the times you resisted God's light this year.
Give thanks for grace, the enlightening presence of God, and especially praise God for the times you responded in the ways that allowed you to better see God in your midst.
In these acts of sorrow and gratitude, you grow in knowledge of God's gentle labor for you. "As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in mine." (Jer 18:6)
Closing
Close with a word of gratitude, expression of love, or the Our Father.
