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Objective:
To progress toward a mature, firm faith, lived from the heart, with solid habits of prayer, formation, sacraments, and charity.
📅 Week 1: Return to the Heart – Rediscover the Essentials
Focus: Reorder the interior life, review foundations, return to what is simple yet essential.
đź“– Formation:
- Read one chapter from the Gospel of Mark each day (16 chapters – 2 per day, with meditation).
- Study the Catechism: Articles 1–106 (Creation, Revelation, Faith).
🙏 Prayer:
- 20 minutes of mental prayer daily (can be based on the Gospel).
- Angelus at noon (or Regina Caeli during the Easter season).
- Pray the Rosary at least three times during the week.
đź•Š Sacraments:
- Go to Confession at the end of the week with a detailed examination of conscience.
- Attend Sunday Mass with prior preparation (readings and prayer beforehand).
đź› Practical Task:
- Set up a designated prayer space at home.
- Create a weekly schedule that includes time for God.
✍️ Write in Your Spiritual Journal:
- What is preventing me from loving God with all my heart?
- What must I change this week to make more room for the Lord?
📅 Week 2: Interior Structure – Discipline and Consistency
Focus: Establish firm habits, discipline the senses, order the affections.
đź“– Formation:
- Begin reading a classic spiritual book (e.g., The Imitation of Christ or The Way by St. JosemarĂa – 2 pages a day).
- Study the Catechism: Articles 107–231 (Christ and Salvation).
🙏 Prayer:
- 30 minutes of prayer daily (half spiritual reading, half dialogue with God).
- Full daily Rosary (mysteries according to the day).
- Litany of the Sacred Heart on Fridays.
đź•Š Sacraments:
- Attend weekday Mass at least once.
- Make a weekly Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament.
đź› Practical Task:
- Choose a daily “sacrifice” (fasting from social media, food, speech…).
- Fast one day during the week (Wednesday or Friday).
✍️ Write in Your Spiritual Journal:
- Am I consistent in what I promise to God?
- What are my biggest distractions? How can I overcome them?
📅 Week 3: The Gift of Self – Charity, Service, Generosity
Focus: Step outside oneself, practice concrete love, embody the faith.
đź“– Formation:
- Read the Gospel of Luke (1 chapter per day).
- Study the Catechism: Articles 232–421 (Holy Spirit and the Church).
🙏 Prayer:
- Morning and evening prayer with acts of offering and thanksgiving.
- Meditate daily on one work of mercy (corporal and spiritual).
- Pray the Rosary with an intercessory focus: offer it for specific people.
đź•Š Sacraments:
- Attend Mass twice during the week.
- Prepare for a good Communion by visiting the Blessed Sacrament the day before.
đź› Practical Task:
- Visit someone who is lonely, ill, or in need.
- Perform a concrete work of charity: donate, cook, accompany, comfort.
✍️ Write in Your Spiritual Journal:
- Do I truly love? Whom do I find difficult to love?
- What is God asking me to give without expecting anything in return?
📅 Week 4: Toward Maturity – Perseverance, Struggle, Holiness
Focus: Consolidate, purify intentions, commit to holiness as the ordinary path.
đź“– Formation:
- Read one letter of St. Paul per day (Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians).
- Study the Catechism: Articles 422–682 (Life in Christ and Eschatology).
🙏 Prayer:
- Nightly examination of conscience with three points: give thanks, repent, make a resolution.
- Daily Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet (at 3pm if possible).
- Daily prayer of abandonment by Charles de Foucauld.
đź•Š Sacraments:
- Attend daily Mass if possible.
- Go to Confession again and make a resolution for frequent sacramental life.
đź› Practical Task:
- Write a formal commitment to Christian life (a brief “rule of life”).
- Speak with your parish priest, confessor, or spiritual director about your next step: vocation? deeper commitment? joining a service group?
✍️ Write in Your Spiritual Journal:
- What is keeping me from giving myself completely?
- Am I willing to live God’s will above my own plans?
🎯 At the End of the Month:
- Evaluate yourself: What progress have I noticed in myself? What resistances still remain?
- Renew your commitment: Decide which practices you will continue moving forward.
- Consecrate yourself to Mary: Or renew your consecration if you’ve already made one. She is the Mother of spiritual growth.
✨ In-Depth Spiritual Examination
Purpose: To better know your soul, discover God’s action in your life, and identify what separates you from Him.
Inspiration: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor 13:5)
📍 1. My Relationship with God – Love and Prayer
- Do I love God above all things, or is there something that takes His place in my heart? (people, possessions, ego, comfort…)
- Do I speak to Him every day in prayer, or only when I need something?
- Do I pray out of routine and distraction, or do I put my heart into it?
- Have I neglected Mass, Adoration, the Rosary, or other means of drawing closer to God?
- Do I trust in God even during difficulties, or do I complain and despair?
- Do I seek to do His will or impose my own?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Mt 22:37)
📍 2. My Sacramental Life – Grace as Nourishment
- When was my last confession? Do I go regularly and sincerely?
- Do I receive the Eucharist in a state of grace, with preparation and devotion?
- Have I committed sacrileges or received the sacraments without faith or repentance?
- Do I respect what is sacred, or have I become indifferent?
- What place does Sunday and the Mass have in my week?
📍 3. My Interior Life – Virtue and Spiritual Combat
- Do I fight against my dominant sins (pride, lust, anger, sloth, envy, greed, gluttony)?
- Am I persistent in doing good, or do I give in to comfort?
- Do I seek to grow in virtue (humility, purity, obedience, temperance, charity)?
- Do I often fall into impure thoughts, judgments, criticisms, gossip?
- Have I opened the door to the devil through esoteric practices, superstitions, or lack of vigilance?
📍 4. My Relationship with Others – Charity and Justice
- Do I love my neighbor as myself?
- Do I truly forgive, or do I hold on to grudges?
- Have I spoken ill of others, lied, slandered, or humiliated anyone?
- Am I just in my work, with my family, with my time?
- Have I been indifferent to others’ pain, selfish, or cold-hearted?
- Do I serve, or do I expect to be served?
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:35)
📍 5. My Body and Senses – Temple of the Holy Spirit
- Do I care for my body as a gift from God, or do I indulge in excess?
- Have I fallen into impurity (thoughts, looks, actions, pornography, masturbation, fornication, adultery)?
- Have I respected my sexuality according to God’s plan?
- Do I use my eyes, ears, and mouth for what is good, or do I consume harmful content?
- Am I temperate in eating, drinking, talking, and resting?
📍 6. My Mission in the World – Witness and Apostolate
- Do I live my faith with courage, or am I ashamed of it?
- Do I share the Truth or conform to worldly thinking?
- Am I a good example to those around me?
- Do I actively participate in my parish or community?
- What spiritual fruits has my life borne this month/year?
📍 7. My Vocation and Purpose – Meaning and Fidelity
- Am I sincerely discerning my vocation?
- Do I live my vocation (marriage, singleness, priesthood, consecrated life…) with love and dedication?
- Do I seek God’s will or only pursue my own dreams?
- Do I feel called to more but hold back out of fear or laziness?
đź“ť Conclusion of the Examination:
- What graces have I received from God lately that I haven’t thanked Him for?
- What sin recurs most often in my life?
- What concrete step is the Lord asking me to take now?
- What must I give up to live more closely united to Him?
🙌 Recommendations:
- Do this examination before the Blessed Sacrament, in silence and without rushing.
- Write your answers down. Don’t rush through it—consider reflecting on one section per day.
- Make a good confession after completing the examination.
- Make a concrete resolution with a date, a prayer, and accountability.
- Speak with a spiritual director if you have one. If not, ask God to send you one.
