Weekly Examen from Campus Ministry

Campus Ministry and the Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality have teamed up to offer an examen for our community each week. This invitation is an opportunity to go deeper into a shared text and consider how our mission and Jesuit values guide our work together here at Fairfield and beyond. Each week, a different member of the Campus Ministry or Murphy Center staff will provide a text for us. Video of the reflection can be found on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

From Kevin C Molloy, Campus Minister for Domestic and International Immersion

Already we find ourselves in the grip of national, state, and local elections. In the homestretch of the presidential election, we will inevitably be inundated with political messaging and partisan appeals. Churches and religious organizations are expected to remain nonpartisan but offer their communities guidance on how to form their consciences around civic issues. As a community grounded in an Ignatian tradition that believes justice and spiritual reflection go hand-in-hand, Campus Ministry offers this Ignatian Examen for Civic Life from the Ignatian Solidarity Network as we begin to consider the choices before us in November.

Enlightened by the spirit, prayerfully review our nation at this point in history; pay attention to your emotions and reactions. 

• What energizes you or brings you closer to God as you reflect on our country?
• What distracts you or makes you feel further from God as you reflect on our country?
• What is the current situation of your brothers and sisters, particularly those who are most vulnerable and often marginalized by poverty and injustice?
• Allow your honest reactions, emotions, and desires to surface.

Conversation with God 

• Consider perhaps one or two of the strongest desires or feelings evoked by your prayers about our country and bring this to God.
• Engage God in conversation over these desires or feelings, speaking simply, clearly, directly, and honestly, as one friend speaks to another.
• What areas of your life as a faithful citizen do you lament?
• What communities, groups, or aspects of creation in our nation need healing and reconciliation?
• What is God’s desire for people who are marginalized by poverty and injustice?
• What areas of your life/our nation’s life do you rejoice in and celebrate for their fidelity to Gospel values?
• Listen to your heart—how is God present to you through your reactions and desires?

Prayer of renewal and resolution 

As we prepare to elect new leaders, how will you promote the common good? Ask God for the assistance you need to enact greater, more lasting good for all God’s people. Is there a specific attitude you want to cultivate or an action you want to take? Entrust your desires and intentions to God’s grace. 

Amen.