Episode 101 -- Spiritual Combat c60 -- Examining our Conscience

What is the best way to examine my conscience at night?

Throughout THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT, Fr Scupoli is convinced that we need to keep a close watch on ourselves and to place great confidence in God. His book is masterful in showing us the right way to react to our own faults. In chapter 26, he discussed a method of humble trust in God’s mercy whereby we do not allow our faults to pull us farther from God. We run back to him. At the same time, a daily examination of our faults is necessary, together with gratitude for the events of the day. Chapter 60 provides us with a framework for thinking about the day that has passed.

Last episode we read about the trial that many serious Catholics face, often in the early days of their deeper conversion, the problem of involuntary impure ideas and even hateful visions. The devil and our fallen human nature seem to conspire to scare us about the spiritual path we are following. In place of the sensible devotion we have been feeling, the soul experiences strange and unwanted ideas, even involving holy things. Such experiences are designed by the devil to make us think we have abandoned God and should return to our life of sin, symbolized by the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt. Just as God allowed the people of Israel to be tempted to return to slavery, Fr Scupoli singles out at least three reasons why God would allow us to undergo this trial.

1. They help prevent us from future NEGLIGENCE.

2. They lead us to closer UNION with God our loving Father.

3. They make us more aware of what our fallen human nature is capable of when unaided by GRACE.

Instead of being over anxious, we need to smile. The God who saved us from a life of sin can deliver us from this trial. Let us not spend too much time going over these thoughts. “In the battle for purity,” St Philip would say, “it is the cowards who win, those who flee.” Be humble and get your mind quickly to something non-sinful. Call a random friend. Organize one’s closet. Count your books!