Going to Confession?
Using the Ten Commandments, This Examination of Conscience Can Help You To Prepare...
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
Do I give God time every day in prayer?
Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
Have I been involved with superstitious practices; have I been involved with the occult?
Do I ask advice of psychics & seek out horoscopes?
Have I mutilated my body with tattoos or body piercing?
Do I deny any articles of my Faith or Teachings of the Church?
Have I received Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin?
Have I deliberately told a lie in Confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in Confession?
2. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Have I used God's Name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
Have I been angry with God?
Have I wished evil upon anyone?
Have I used profane words?
Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?
3. Keep holy the Lord's Day.
Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays, Holy Days of Obligation?
Have I observed Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
Do I do needless work on Sunday?
4. Honor thy father & thy mother.
Do I honor and obey my parents and legitimate civil/church authority?
Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
Have I given my family good religious example?
Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
Do I contribute to the support of the Church?
5. Thou shalt not kill
Have I had an abortion or encouraged or helped anyone to have an abortion?
Have I physically harmed anyone by fighting?
Have I abused alcohol or drugs?
Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them sin?
Have I been angry or resentful toward others?
Have I harbored hatred for anyone in my heart?
Have I hurt anyone by quarrelling or injurious words?
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought & action?
Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
Has every marital act been open to the transmission of new life?
Have I used "Natural Family Planning / Rhythm Method" to avoid conception?
Have I been guilty of self-stimulation?
Have I sought to control my thoughts and desires?
Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
Have I been guilty of any homosexual acts?
Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words, actions?
Do I avoid the occasion of sin and bad company?
Do I dress modestly?
7. Thou shalt not steal.
Have I stolen what does not belong to me?
Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
Do I waste time at work, school or at home?
Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?
Do I pay my debts promptly?
Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Have I lied?
Have I gossiped?
Have I spoken behind some-one else's back?
Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
Am I critical, negative, or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
Do I pass rash judgments?
Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
Have I consented to impure thoughts or desires?
Have I caused them by impure reading, TV, conversations, or curiosity?
Do I seek to control my imagination?
Do I dismiss at once impure thoughts and temptations?
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
Am I jealous of what other people have?
Do I envy other people's families or possessions?
Am I greedy or selfish?
Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
Do I trust that God will care for all of my material & spiritual needs?