“Each day has its own mission. At Compline, examine whether you have fulfilled it” (Inner Word).
Certainly, these words are addressed primarily to those who live according to the spiritual order of monasteries or religious communities. However, they are also fruitful and applicable to anyone who desires to lead a serious spiritual life and walk each day hand in hand with the Lord.
What is our Father’s purpose in giving us these instructions? Without a doubt, He wants us to live each day consciously, recognizing and fulfilling His plans day after day. Indeed, each day has its own mission. If we examine it before God at night, before going to bed (as is often done in monasteries during Compline), we will learn to perceive His guidance more and more clearly. Then our day will no longer be simply a series of tasks and obligations, but we will increasingly recognize God’s hand in all events and encounter Him more deeply. Thus, each day—today—becomes a stage on the path to eternity.
This also applies when we carry out the most ordinary tasks that life brings, as is usually the case. It becomes increasingly clear to us that the Lord entrusts them to us and that we will also have to give an account to Him even for the simplest things. Thus, today’s counsel helps us become aware of our responsibility before God and of all that our mission to bear witness to Him as Christians entails.
In a way, the day becomes different when we examine it in the evening before our beloved Father and identify the “golden thread” that marked it. This also prepares us to live the next day more attentively, for who would not want to have carried out their task better when they examine their conscience the next time? Everything serves to love our Father more deeply and to serve our neighbor with greater love.
And if we were weak and fell short of what was entrusted to us, the Lord will console us and lift us up.