Welcome to The Examine, your daily prayer hosted by Father James Martin and brought to you by America Media, a Jesuit ministry.

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I'm Father Jim Martin. I'm about to lead you through a traditional Jesuit prayer that will help you

notice where God has been in your day. But first, let's begin

with our weekly reflection, which is released every Sunday. Lent and Advent are two times of the

year when Catholics really try to rev up their spiritual lives. And often, we can get down

on ourselves for not maintaining our Lenton sacrifices, or not praying more, or fasting more,

or not giving more alms. So Lent ends up not being a time of spiritual renewal, but getting down

in ourselves. And that can defeat the whole purpose of L renewal, but getting down in ourselves.

And that can defeat the whole purpose of Lent,

which is a spiritual preparation for the coming of Christ in a new way into our lives at Easter,

not beating ourselves up or feeling ashamed about our lack of spiritual progress.

The deeper purpose is what's called a metanoia, a Greek word often used in the

gospels. That's often translated as repentance, but it's better translated as a complete change of

mind and heart. So it's not about whether you were able to successfully give up chocolate,

but whether your mind and heart are more willing to accept Jesus more fully into your life.

And that is a lifelong project.

So don't get too down on yourself if your lent hasn't been perfect.

Be easy with yourself. But keep taking those steps toward God. Now, let's enter into the exam and review the past day.

If you're listening to this in the daytime, we'll look back at yesterday.

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