Welcome to The Examine, your daily prayer hosted by Father James Martin and brought to you by America Media, a Jesuit ministry.

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I'm Father Jim Martin. I'm about to lead you through a traditional Jesuit prayer that will

help you notice where God has been in your day.

But first, let's begin with our weekly reflection, which is released every Sunday.

In North America, where I live, we are in the dead of winter.

I know that that might not be the case for all listeners, but maybe for a good many of you. And it's a hard time for many people.

The cold, the snow, the sleet, the slush, the still enveloping darkness of the days can make some people a bit depressed.

You look at the bare ground, the leafless trees, and the leaden skies, and wonder whether spring or summer will ever come again.

The cold and darkness seems so permanent.

The persistence of darkness and cold is a good metaphor for times in life when it seems that

nothing will change, or even nothing can change.

And when times seem hopeless, we can be tempted to despair.

Easter, we know from the Gospels, happened around Passover, which means it happened historically

in the spring.

And maybe one reason God arranged it this way was to enable us to see the connection between

what happens on Easter Sunday and what can happen to us in our lives.

That is, there is always hope.

There was always the promise of new life, and suffering is never the last word.

So maybe this week, you might see that while some parts of your life are dark,

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