Reflection with a Year-End Examen
A yearly examen (a reflective review of the past year in the light of God’s presence) is a deeply Ignatian and fruitful way to transition into a new year. It helps you discern where God has been at work, where you’ve grown, where you’ve resisted grace, and where you’re being invited next.
🕊️ A Sacred Pause
As another year draws to a close, many of us feel the pull to pause and take stock. Not just to review accomplishments or failures, but to look more deeply:
Where have I encountered God this year? Where did I grow… or resist growth? What is God inviting me into as a new year begins?
This kind of reflection is more than a resolution-making session. It’s a spiritual practice, a holy remembering.
Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Year-End Examen offers a sacred space to prayerfully reflect on the year behind and listen for God’s gentle invitation into the year ahead. It is rooted in the belief that God is present in all things: our joys and our sorrows, our routines and disruptions, our successes and failures.
Why an Examen for the Whole Year?
St. Ignatius encouraged a daily examen as a way of growing in awareness of God’s presence and action in everyday life. But at the end of the year, a longer, slower examen can help us:
- Notice patterns of grace or resistance
- Express gratitude for God’s faithfulness
- Name areas of hurt, failure, or need for healing
- Discern where God may be calling us next
This isn’t about judgment. It’s about attentiveness, compassion, and clarity.
🕊️ Year-End Examen
A Reflective Questionnaire in the Light of Scripture
Below is a Year-End Spiritual Examen in the Ignatian tradition, inspired by Scripture and structured for prayerful reflection. It includes five movements, with questions and Scripture passages for each. I recommend finding a quiet space, allowing at least 30–60 minutes, and journaling your thoughts.
How to Begin
- Set aside 30–60 minutes of quiet, uninterrupted time.
- Have a journal, Bible, and perhaps a candle or sacred image nearby.
- Begin with a simple prayer:
“Lord, help me see my year through Your eyes. Let me notice Your presence and receive Your guidance.”
There is no “perfect” way to do this. The only aim is to be present to God, to your own heart, and to the truth of your lived experience.
A Guided Questionnaire with 5 Movements of the Year-End Examen
This reflective questionnaire moves through five spiritual movements:
Gratitude, Illumination, Contrition, Discernment, and Hopeful Commitment. Each movement is grounded in Scripture and invites you to journal your responses, pray, and notice the stirrings of your heart.
Whether you’ve had a spiritually rich year or a dry and difficult one, God has been with you. The Examen helps you discover how.
1. Gratitude – Recognizing God’s Gifts
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:18
- What gifts, blessings, or moments of joy did I receive this year?
- What relationships, events, or quiet moments filled me with life?
- In what ways did I experience God’s love—through people, creation, prayer, or unexpected grace?
Pause to thank God for these gifts. Let gratitude fill your heart.
2. Illumination – Seeing the Year with God’s Eyes
“Search me, O God, and know my heart… lead me in the way everlasting.”
—Psalm 139:23–24
- Where did I feel most alive and free this year?
- When did I feel distant from God, myself, or others?
- What patterns—good or harmful—can I see emerging in how I lived, loved, worked, or prayed?
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal hidden truths with gentleness and clarity.
3. Contrition – Naming Wounds, Failures, and God’s Mercy
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
—1 John 1:9
- Where did I fall short of love—toward God, others, or myself?
- Are there areas I avoided, neglected, or resisted growth?
- What do I need to ask forgiveness for? Who do I need to forgive?
Let God’s mercy wash over you. Receive forgiveness with humility and hope.
4. Discernment – Listening for God’s Invitation
“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
—1 Samuel 3:10
- What desires have grown in me this year?
- What do I sense God inviting me to let go of?
- Where might God be calling me to deeper trust, courage, or surrender?
Listen not just for answers, but for movements of the heart.
5. Hopeful Commitment – Stepping into the New Year
“Behold, I am making all things new.”
—Revelation 21:5
- What grace or intention do I want to carry into the new year?
- What spiritual practice, habit, or focus will help me stay open to God’s work in me?
- What concrete step can I take toward greater love or purpose?
Entrust your hopes, fears, and desires for the year ahead to God.
Prayer suggestion:
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will…”
—from the Suscipe, St. Ignatius of Loyola
A New Year, A New Yes
As you step into the new year, this reflection can be a grace-filled foundation for deeper spiritual focus, discernment, and renewal. You may want to share the experience with a friend or spiritual director, or revisit your reflections a few months into the year.
Remember: God meets you where you are—not where you “should” be. And each new year is another invitation to say “yes” to grace.
“Behold, I am making all things new.” – Revelation 21:5
🌿 Move Forward with Grace and Begin the New Year with God
Let us follow up the Year-End Examen to move forward with focus, intention, and spiritual clarity into the new year. This piece ties together the reflection and gently casts a vision for the year ahead.
After prayerfully looking back on the year, what now?
You’ve taken time to reflect…not just on events and emotions, but on how God has been moving in your life. You’ve named blessings, acknowledged struggles, and listened for where the Spirit might be leading you. That is sacred work.
But spiritual reflection isn’t meant to end in the past. It opens us up to a more attentive, intentional, and grace-filled future. The invitation now is to carry the fruits of your reflection into the new year—not with pressure or perfectionism, but with quiet trust.
1. Begin Again—Gently
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”
—Lamentations 3:22–23
The new year is not a blank slate; it’s a continuation of God’s story in your life. Whatever burdens or hopes you carry, begin again with gentleness. God is not demanding your perfection—He is inviting your yes, one step at a time.
Ask yourself:
- What one word, theme, or grace do I want to carry into this year?
- How might God be asking me to love more deeply—in my daily life, work, prayer, or relationships?
2. Live with Greater Awareness
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
—Psalm 46:10
The Examen has helped you cultivate awareness. Carry that awareness with you. Consider practicing a weekly or daily Examen (even in a few simple minutes) to stay grounded. Let your heart stay open to the movements of God in ordinary moments.
You might reflect weekly on:
- What gave me life this week?
- Where did I feel disconnected from love?
- How did I respond to God’s nudges?
3. Discern the Invitations, Not Just the Resolutions
Rather than resolutions based only on self-improvement, consider asking:
What is God inviting me into this year?
This may be a call to greater rest, deeper prayer, renewed creativity, bolder service, or loving presence in your family or community.
Discernment is not always about answers—it’s about living in relationship with the One who knows you and calls you.
4. Hold It All With Hope
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
—Romans 15:13
Whatever the coming year holds, go forward with hope—not because of what you can do, but because of who God is. He walks with you in every moment, even (and especially) in the unknown.
Let this be a year of:
- Listening more than striving
- Trusting more than controlling
- Abiding more than achieving
A Prayer for the New Year
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will…”
—St. Ignatius of Loyola, Suscipe
God of all seasons,
Thank You for walking with me through this past year.
Open my heart to Your presence in the year to come.
Give me the grace to follow, to trust, to begin again—
One day at a time, one yes at a time.
Amen.
🌟 Step Forward in Faith
You don’t have to see the whole path to take the next step. May your year be filled with sacred noticing, quiet courage, and deepening love.
Let grace be your rhythm.
Let prayer be your anchor.
Let Christ be your companion.
