Part 5, Chapter 3
No one likes it. It is not our favorite thing. We try to avoid it. We try to give ourselves excuses. Still, getting a yearly physical at the doctor’s office is a good thing for us to do. The doctor exams our bodies to see how we are doing and with this information, he makes suggestions on what we can do to make ourselves healthier. Yes, it is not always fun or exciting to do this, but our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and so we should take care of them.
Physicals are important and so are Spirituals (I don’t believe I am using the word in its normal sense). What we are preparing to do is having the doctor of souls look at our soul, look at how we are doing in living the spiritual (devout) life. This is our spiritual examination, that is, our spiritual checkup. Now, we are inviting the Holy Spirit to show us how we are doing. We want His honest examination so that we can know what we need to do better in the spiritual life. This is something good and should be done on a yearly basis.
When making the examination have paper available (I like a journal) so that we can write down what is happening. “After each point of examination observe where you have failed, and what is lacking in you, and in what you have chiefly failed, so that you may be able to explain your troubles, get counsel and comfort, and make fresh resolutions” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 191). The whole point of doing this examination is to have us shed our false self and put on our true self.
St. Francis De Sales gives us four areas to cover: “Divide [the examination] by taking your conduct towards God at one time, all that concerns yourself another time, all that concerns your neighbor, and fourthly, the examination of your passions” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 191). These four areas are given for us to exam only with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit’s help, this will turn into introspection. That is why St. Francis De Sales reminds us on page 192 how to begin the examination. Please follow these directions 1 to 4 every time we begin the examination for each day. This is what will take place in Chapters 4 through 7. Doing this examination will be a great blessing for our spiritual lives if we make it so, please take the time to do so. So now here we are standing naked before God and asking Him to help us exam our spiritual life. Why, so that we can be loving, holy, devout and ready to be with Him in Heaven.