QUESTIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE ACCORDING TO THE DECALOGUE OF THE COMMANDMENTS

Good confession presupposes the following steps:
– Ask your conscience – what sins have you committed since your last Holy Confession.
– Sincerely repent of your sins, mainly because you have offended the good God.
– Confess your sins to the priest.
– Take good care to confess all your mortal sins, even the number of them.
– After Holy Confession, do the act of penance appointed for you by the priest.
– Pray daily for the strength to avoid the opportunity to sin, especially those sins for which you have just received absolution.

FIRST COMMANDMENT
‘I am the Lord your God! Thou shalt have no other gods but me to worship..” (Ex 20:2,3)
– Have I doubted the existence of God, or have I denied it?
– Have I refused to believe in what God reveals to us?
– Did I believe in fortune-tellers, horoscopes, dream interpreters, occult practices, good luck charms, card reading, palm reading, various séances, and reincarnation?
– Have I denied that I am a Catholic?
– Have I abandoned the Catholic faith?
– Did I devote time to God in prayer every day?
– Did I love God with all my heart?
– Did I despair or presumptuously rely on God’s mercy?
– Did I have false idols in my life that I paid more attention to than God, such as money, profession, drugs, TV, fame, pleasure, possessions, etc.?

SECOND COMMANDMENT
‘Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain. ” (Ex 20:7)
– Have I cursed or offended God?
– Have I taken God’s name in vain or with indifferent carelessness?
– Have I cursed or broken an oath or a promise?
– Have I manifested anger toward God?

THIRD COMMANDMENT
“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.” (Ex 20:8)
– Have I missed Sunday Mass or Mass on a commanded feast day through my fault?
– Did I arrive on time for Mass? Did I leave early?
– Did I work on Sundays, even when it was not necessary?
– Did I set aside Sunday as a day of rest and a day for my family?
– Did I show reverence for Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar?

FOURTH COMMANDMENT
“Honor thy father and thy mother..” (Ex 20:12)
– Have I disobeyed or disrespected my parents or legitimate superiors?
– Have I neglected my duties to my husband, wife, children, parents?
– Have I neglected to set a good example for my family in religious matters?
– Have I neglected to take an active approach to facilitate religious education and formation for my children?
– Have I neglected my education in the actual teachings of the Church?
– Have I offended in word or deed, especially about young people?
– Have I been the cause of someone abandoning their faith?
– Have I caused tension and conflict in my family?
– Have I cared for my elderly and sick relatives?
– Have I fully earned my daily wage?
– Did I give a fair wage to my employees?

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
“Thou shalt not kill” (Ex 20:13).
– Have I killed or physically injured someone?
– Have I had an abortion or counseled someone else to have an abortion? (One who provides an abortion is automatically excommunicated, as is one who participates by cooperating in an abortion, Canon 1398. The ex-communication may be lifted in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.)
– Did I use birth control pills or require my wife to take them (whether or not I was aware that birth control pills abort the fetus at conception)?
– Did I attempt suicide?
– Did I participate in or approve of so-called “mercy killing” (euthanasia)?
– Have I been angry, impatient, envious, unloving, unkind, proud, vindictive, jealous of other people, lazy?
– Did I set a bad example through drug abuse, excessive drinking, conflicts, fights, and arguments?
– Was I destroying my health?
– Did I hurt children or other vulnerable people?

SIXTH AND NINTH COMMANDMENTS
‘Thou shalt not commit adultery. ” (Ex 20:14). “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife!” (Ex 20:17)
Note: in the area of deliberate sexual sins listed below, all are considered mortal sins if accompanied by full knowledge and full consent of the will. “Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor covetous, nor adulterers, nor concubines of men, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”(1 Cor. 6:9-10). “Whosoever looketh on a woman with lust hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”(1 Cor. 6:9-10). “If any man looketh on a woman with lust, he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Mt 5:28).

– Have I deliberately harbored impure thoughts and desires?
– Have I used dirty or suggestive words? Have I told impure stories and jokes? Did I listen to them?
– Did I intentionally watch unclean television programs, videos, games, pictures, movies? Have I deliberately read impure material?
– Did I perform dirty deeds on my body (masturbation)?
– Have I committed unclean acts with another person – fornication (premarital sex), adultery (sexual intercourse with another person outside of my marriage)?
– Have I practiced contraception (pills, other means, intermittent coitus)?
– Have I married outside the Church or counseled a Catholic to marry outside the Church?
– Have I avoided opportunities for impurity?
– Have I tried to control my thoughts?
– Have I participated in homosexual activity?
– Did I respect all people of the opposite sex, or did I view other people as objects?
– Did I have myself or my spouse sterilized?
– Did I abuse my marital rights?

THE SEVENTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS
“Thou shalt not steal.” (Ex 20:15), “You shall not covet your neighbor’s possessions or anything that is his. ” (Ex 20:17)
– Have I stolen, cheated, aided and abetted, or encouraged others to steal or keep stolen things? Have I made restitution for stolen items?
– Have I fulfilled my contractual obligations? Did I give or accept bribes? Did I pay bills and invoices? Did I gamble, did I speculate? Did I deny my family the necessities of life?
– Have I wasted time at work, at school, at home?
– Have I envied other people for their possessions and property?
– Have I made material goods the meaning of my life?

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ” (Ex 20:16)
– Have I lied?
– Have I intentionally lied and deceived others or hurt and harmed others with my lies? Have I repaired these harms?
– Have I sworn falsely?
– Have I slandered and gossiped, published about other people their faults and sins?
– Have I failed to keep secrets in matters that are supposed to be confidential?

OTHER SINS
– Did I fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? Do I strive to perform some act of penance at least every Friday?
– Have I received Holy Communion at least once a year and during the Easter season?
– Have I gone to Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin? Have I kept the Eucharistic fast before Holy Communion – one hour without food and drink (except water and medicine)?
– Did I make a bad confession?
– Have I contributed to the needs of the Church and the poor?