It’s always good to define our terms. In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, Servant of God John Hardon provided a good definition of “Examination of Conscience”:

Reflection in God’s presence on one’s state of soul, e.g., in preparation for the sacrament of penance.

He also defined “General Examen” this way:

Prayerful daily periodic examination of one’s conscience to determine what faults have been committed, which call for repentance, and what good actions were performed, for which God should be thanked.

And he explained “Particular Examen” in these terms:

Regular prayerful examination of one’s conscience by concentrating on some one particular moral failing to be overcome or virtue to be exercised. Its focus is on such external manifestations of the fault or virtue as can be remembered for periodic inventory. Particular examens are changed weekly, monthly, or otherwise in order to ensure maximum attention. They are also commonly associated with some brief invocation for divine assistance, as occasions arise for avoiding a sin or acting on a virtue. And after some time another cycle may be started of the same defects that this person has to conquer or good habits he or she needs to develop.

Catholics believe in being very self-aware and “vigilant” in the spiritual life. We’re always examining ourselves to make sure that our hearts are oriented toward God (as a result — always — of God’s grace, that we must seek and ask for). This very self-examination is what some Protestants critique and scorn as “uncertainty of salvation,” as if it were a bondage, or something undesirable, or altogether lacking in the hope and joy and peace that we have in Christ. But that’s not true at all.

St. Paul expressed something that I believe is very much along these lines:

• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Paul also wrote to the same Corinthians about the same necessity of self-examination:

• 1 Corinthians 11:28, 31. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ... But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged.
• 2 Corinthians 13:5. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

If we pursue this notion, we find that the Greek word in the last two examples above (“test” in 2 Corinthians 13:5) is dokimazo. In the King James Version, it is translated variously as “examine,” “discern,” “prove,” “try,” and “approve.” Here are some other New Testament uses of it in similar fashion: 

• Romans 12:2. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
• 2 Corinthians 8:7-8. Now as you excel in everything — in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in your love for us — see that you excel in this gracious work also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
• 2 Corinthians 8:22. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you.
• Galatians 6:4. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:21. But test everything; hold fast what is good,
• 1 Timothy 3:10. And let them also be tested first; then if they prove themselves blameless let them serve as deacons.

“Examine” in 2 Corinthians 13:5 is a different word: pirazo, usually translated as tempt or tempted. In this case, it is used in the sense of “tempting” or “testing” or “trying” oneself (i.e., examining).

Other passages convey the same sort of thing. The word “conscience” appears in the RSV 28 times in the New Testament. Paul wrote:

• “I have lived before God in all good conscience up to this day” (Acts 23:1)
• “I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men” (Acts 24:16)
• “My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 9:1)
• “We would commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2)
• “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5)
• “Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith” (1 Timothy 1:19)
• “I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience” (2 Timothy 1:3)

Conversely, Paul refers to “the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared” (1 Timothy 4:2); “To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted” (Titus 1:15).

The writer of Hebrews urges believers to “purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14); and confidently asserts, “our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (10:22), and “we are sure that we have a clear conscience” (Hebrews 13:18). St. Peter adds, “keep your conscience clear” (1 Peter 3:16).

We see, then, that the practice of self-examination of one’s conscience is a strong biblical theme. We are urged to always be vigilant in this respect. The Catholic practice of examination of conscience is the biblical model of discipleship.