Anchoring your day with Jesus

First Saturdays are special here at St. Anne’s Guest Home, Grand Forks. They are the day that our area-wide Catholic women’s group gathers for prayer, Mass, fellowship, and an inspirational message. For our March 7 meeting I was chosen to give the talk. Not often in this position, it was quite the experience for me. I hope my listeners got half as much out of my sharing as I got out of preparing it! 

I decided to entitle my talk “Anchoring Your Day with Jesus.” Jesus truly is the anchor of our souls, and our best friend. My topic was using the Morning Offering and the evening Examen prayers to strengthen one’s friendship with Christ. 

I have to admit, preparing this talk was instrumental in my own life, helping me to renew my own efforts at “anchoring my day” with him with these prayers. Studying and refreshing my memory on these prayer practices opened my heart in a new way to fostering an “attitude of gratitude” in an intentional way.

Like me, you may have prayed these prayers for years, or maybe you’ve never really heard much about either one. Wherever you’re at, I will share here a little history about these prayers and the significance they have, as well as steps for praying the examen in an effective way.

Let’s begin with the Morning Offering. Many people offer intentions for the “Apostleship of Prayer” during this offering. This is a movement which prays for intentions suggested by the Pope, and which originated in France in the 1800s, according to the National Catholic Register. For 130 years, the popes have been offering their monthly intentions in this prayer apostolate. Pope Leo XIII, who was the first pontiff to participate, said that our morning offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful. It is a daily reminder to make our entire day, our whole life, “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

The morning offering doesn’t take long. In fact, you can tape it to your bathroom mirror or commit it to memory and say it while dressing. It’s a wonderful way to offer everything the day may hold up to our Lord, through Mary his mother. It is good to make this offering before rushing into the whirlwind that can be our day, bringing to him consciously, intentionally, all the “prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of the day.” At daily Mass, you can bring this offering, placing it on the altar in your mind’s eye while the bread and wine are prepared. Either way, in the Morning Offering, you can offer everything in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The Morning Offering can be the first hinge, you might say, in living your day with intention and for Jesus. 

The Examen Prayer comes to us mainly from St. Ignatius of Loyola. According to an article from the Catholic Exchange, the daily Examen is like shining a floodlight on our heart. It can help us be more aware of God’s action in our lives.

Recognizing God’s presence with us is the first step in making a fruitful evening examen. We want to remember that he is truly with us throughout the day. We remember that he has been our friend and our father, with us in all our comings and goings. Next, we stop to give thanks to God for all his blessings during the day. This is so important.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you with his light. He sees everything and can help you to look back on your day more clearly and perceptively. As you go through the examen, at some point, you will probably become aware of ways that you have not acted as you should. An important part of the examen is repentance; we turn to God for forgiveness for ways in which we have not been faithful. 

We want to look back on our day, reviewing it in the light of the Holy Spirit. One way which I find helpful and insightful is to think through the day using first person plural: “We cleaned house…We went to work” (meaning Jesus and I). This is a wonderful way to remind ourselves that our best friend was truly with us all along! It also helps us to catch times we sinned: We did not scold our neighbor, I did!

Reflect on the day. Try to notice patterns, times you showed love, and times you were selfish. Finally, turn your mind to the coming day. Think of how you might do better. Ask God’s help for troubles you can anticipate (and for those you may not). This concluding part can be a great step in avoiding sins and mistakes tomorrow. An appropriate prayer to close the Examen is the Our Father.

Pope John Paul II said this about the Morning Offering and evening Examen Prayer: “Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence.”