Beginning again: An examination of conscience
(Photo: Rene Asmussen/pexels)
By Fr John Allen Green OFM
Beginning again… Finding Forgiveness during Darkness – An examination of conscience
John 1:1-18
An examination of conscience begins by an admission of guilt. If any of your sentences begin with:
- I made a mistake/ I never meant to…; it was not a mistake, I made a choice and was caught!
- If I hurt you… manipulation places the fault with the victim.
- It really was not my fault… as old as the history of man… the devil made me do it; it was the woman that YOU put with me… this is the poison of victimhood.
You’re doing it wrong.
Begin by asking yourself:
- Have I forgiven others who have hurt or wronged me, or do I nurture anger, resentment, and ill will?
- Do I mock The Holy Spirit of Love and Mercy by despair, the pride of presumption, including that fundamentalism that rejects anything outside my own opinion, the pride of judging others, including envy, racism, sexism and even nationalism and speciesism, the pride of my own entitlement?
- Have I made reparations, especially for the calumny of gossip, revealing secrets of shortfalls of others, sarcasm, and projection? Perhaps a good time to evaluate the perfectly manicured portrait that I portray of myself next to those many pictures of others that I expose.
- Do I rationalise my privileges and rights in unjust systems that exploit resources and structural inequality?
- How may I re-align my life to promote healing and harmony?
Friar at Order of Friars Minor. Studied Spirituality and Psychology at St Augustine College of South Africa. Studied Theology at the University of Wales. Studied Franciscanism, Canterbury.
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