An Examen for the Year: Making Resolutions with God's Help

As we prepare to enter the new year, it is a good idea to look back on this year and do an examen just as we would do for another period of time, such as the past day or week. It may be a little more difficult to recall events in a whole year, but putting yourself in a prayerful frame of mind and asking for the Holy Spirit’s assistance in remembering the things that He wants you to remember is key for this practice and will make things easier. Letting ourselves reflect on events of the past year will help us see the areas in our lives that need work and shape the way we make resolutions or otherwise prepare for the upcoming year.

You should begin by asking the Holy Spirit to help you see the past year as God sees it. Vinita Hampton Wright, a Catholic author writing about this examen on the Ignatian Spirituality website, says that we should ask God to tear us away from our own patterns of thinking and seeing so that we can replace them with the way God sees. Once we’ve done this, we can see past our failings and accomplishments and see ourselves as God sees us, made in His image as His sons and daughters. We can then start the process of beginning the examen. It’s okay if you can’t go through the year chronologically; the Holy Spirit will draw you to the times and events that He wants you to remember. Go through these times and examine them for the good gifts that you received and thank God for them.

Next, review the year paying attention to your emotional responses and praying with those emotions. What things bring out the most emotions in you and why are you feeling that way? What can you learn about yourself through these emotions? Ask God to guide you through feeling these emotions and to help you understand why you felt a certain way. Then settle on one feature, whether an event or a behavior pattern of yours, and pray from this. How can you respond better and change a way of thinking that you may have? What did you do well? Thank God for the grace that you had in that moment to respond well.

Lastly, you should look toward the new year and imagine what may come your way. What relationships need to be cultivated and what decisions need to be made? What skills, habits, and good works need to be learned and accomplished? Make a list and ask God for the graces that you’ll need to encounter these things.

Once you have completed the examen, you can make resolutions for the new year based on what God has brought to you in prayer. What do you need to work on in your relationships with others and with God? How do you need to improve yourself in order to be able to bring the Gospel to others more effectively? Once you’ve pinpointed these things, you will have set yourself up for a happier and holier new year.