By Paul Befort

Msgr. Terrance J. Murphy was the 13^th President of the University of Saint Thomas, a generous benefactor of the school, and a prolific writer. A collection of his homilies and writings have been exclusively entrusted to the Murphy Institute for preservation and propagation. I was recently given the opportunity to review the archive of his works and to reflect on one of them as a Murphy’s Scholar working to complete the Catholic Studies Masters and J.D. Dual Degree Program.

One sermon from 1947, entitled Examination of Conscience, particularly resonated with me. Many people who were raised Christian have likely heard the phrase “examination of conscience” before. I know I often take the practice for granted. After reading Msgr. Murphy’s reflection I am inspired to change that.

I will attempt to provide a synopsis of his homily next.

Msgr. Murphy first notes our conscience is a voice that is ever changing based on our life choices. If we don’t listen to it, our conscience will become so hardened, like burned skin, that we will lose our feeling of what is sinful. Eventually our conscience will die altogether if not heeded.

We can train our conscience to be increasingly accurate by reflecting on our past choices of the day. Too much reflection on our faults can lead us to despair, and too little reflection on our darker tendencies leads to self-complacency. We should strive to see ourselves as God sees us.

Msgr. Murphy instructs that it is important not to merely make negative resolutions (I will not do X again) after examining our choices, but to try to identify the root cause of our manifesting sins. Msgr. Murphy uses impurity as an example of a potentially visible sin, which might be caused by a more fundamental vice such as love of ease, selfishness, or pride.

Once the predominate sin is identified, a positive resolution to grow in the corresponding virtue can be made. Msgr. Murphy uses the example of someone who has the chief fault of uncharitableness which manifests itself in harsh judgements of others. Rather than the person resolving they won’t have uncharitable thoughts about others again, and becoming discouraged when they fail on defense, that individual should offensively resolve to practice finding a good motive for everything he notices in others.

Msgr. Murphy uses a farming analogy that resonated with me as a gardener. Weeding (removing sins) has a place in gardening, but if we focus on giving the plants (virtuous habits) enough nutrients and water, they will eventually choke out the weeds in their shade.

I found Msgr. Murphy’s short, four-page homily excellent as an easily applied attack plan for the spiritual life. Practicing an examination of conscience, or a chance to reflect on whether we listened to the voice of our conscience in a given time period, is integral to growing in the spiritual life. But sometimes I feel like I do not know exactly what to do besides feel bad about my sins after examining my conscience. What comes next after we have identified areas for growth?

Msgr. Murphy does a great job explaining how an examination of conscience can be used as a self-awareness tool, a moment to identify underlying causes of surface sins, and then to proactively counter these weaknesses with positive efforts to grow in a corresponding virtue.

In this Lenten season I am resolved to practice Msgr. Murphy’s spiritual wisdom by refocusing my examination of conscience moments on opportunities to grow towards Christ through virtue building and self-awareness.

Paul Befort is a Murphy Scholar and 1L at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in the JD/CSMA program.

“From the Archives” is a recurring blog series which features reflections on the works of Msgr. Terrence J. Murphy available in the Murphy Institute’s digital archive.