Justice Prayers - New Years Examen 2025

A New Year’s  Examen for those who work for justice and mercy

We know that you love justice and righteousness. We know the earth is full of your unfailing love. (Psalm 33). We know that you have asked us to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with you (Micah 6). We know that you told us you would be among the poor, the hungry, the ones in need (Matthew 25).  We know you came to seek and save (Luke 19). We know you told us to pray that your kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6). 

That this is the character of God-With-Us is a gift we only begin to comprehend. We can only see glimpses, through dark glasses, how you are working for the redemption of your world. But still we are so grateful. 

New Year’s can be a time we pause, and reflect; see clearly and take the next right step. For those who cry and work for mercy and justice in a world that keeps proving its bent towards destruction, it becomes imperative that we pause, remember, give thanks for what has happened, praise for where God is working, acknowledge where we must turn and walk in a different way.  

What follows is a prayer of examen* - a prayer practice often attributed to St. Ignatius, in which we connect to the Source of all the Goodness, we name what we are grateful for, we recall where we have felt God was present and absent in this last season with a tender honesty and listen for the Spirit’s invitation to our next season.  Grab a pen and some paper, take a few quiet moments and know God will encounter you here. 

Settle in your body and mind. 

Our breath is the inherent way God has created us to connect to this very moment. Notice what emotions are arising in your body. Breathe naturally and welcome God’s voice, knowing He knows how you hear him best. 

Gratitude

Take a moment and name what you are specifically grateful for - right in this moment. From big things to tiny things - name them all. Let the gratitude soften your gaze, open up your heart to the wonder of being alive. 

Review 

Review the past year. 

Review the current events that caught your attention, that broke your heart, that gave you hope. Review your justice work, your advocacy, where you tried to live humbly and with mercy. Review what happened in your church community - where it was living into healing and justice and where it chose not to. Go month by month and recall the events, personal and public, that shaped your year.

Reflect

Next, reflect on these events answering the following questions:

• Where did you feel God’s love was present?  Where did you feel God’s love was not present?
• Where was your community unified in care? Where was it divided?
• Where did you grow in the fruits of the Spirit? Where did they recede from the forefront of your interactions?
• Where did you witness healing in relationships and in systems?  Where did you see breaking in relationships and in systems? 
• When was your time and resources used well in your justice work? Where did you lose time and resources?

These questions follow traditional concepts of “consolation” and “desolation” that Ignatius used in discernment.  They are not questions for judging the events of the past year but for wondering and discerning. The good things and the hard things both can be instructive but only if we bring them into the light. 

Mend

Take an accounting for what is yours to mend

Now reflect on what might be yours to take accountability for? What is yours to do, to begin again at? What limitations do you need to acknowledge?  What blindspots might you not be realizing? Any coping mechanisms become clear? Any fears limiting you?  What needs to be said now that you couldn’t say before? 

Usually whatever comes to mind is the truest. Don’t make this process more arduous than you need to. Trust that God is revealing what is best for you in this moment of reflection.

Intend

Make note of any intentions you have for this next season.

What is the invitation arising from this reflection to you?  What are the next right steps you are discerning in your journey of justice, love and mercy?  What needs to be set free and what needs to be taken up?  Where do you want to go next? What do you want to welcome into your life?

Final Gratitude

Give thanks for what has emerged from this time.  Journal about what has arisen or talk with a friend. Trust that God has you, your work, and this world and remember:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3: 22,23 (NRSVUE)

*The titles for the sections of this examen are from the work of Jen Cobble Willhoite