Examination Of Conscience

 This is a very good practice before going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession.  In fact, it is a fantastic exercise to do on a regular basis, to assess where you stand before God and man, since all the commandments can be summed up into just two:

• You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength

• You shall love your neighbour as you do yourself.

An examination of conscience takes each commandment and breaks it up into smaller parts or questions that are designed to make you do deep and honest introspection.  It makes you realize that the ten commandments cannot be taken at just face value.  For example, in relation to the fifth commandment – thou shall not kill – most of us will at face value, think that we are all right since we have never killed anyone.  However, when we take a closer look at the detailed meaning of that commandment, a different picture surfaces, and we recognize a need for repentance.  The same can be held true for all the other commandments.

If we are really honest with ourselves, the examination of conscience causes us to be humble – no matter how good we think we are, it makes us recognize that we are sinners in need of mercy and in desperate need of our God.

[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”0895556758″ locale=”us” height=”320″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MrHRaiDpL._SL160_.jpg” width=”200″]The 1st Commandment:  I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

• Do I give God time every day in prayer?
• Do I turn to God in thankful prayer, or do I pray mostly when I want something?
• Do I seek to love God more than anything or anyone else? Are material things – my job, my car – or people – my spouse, my girlfriend, my boyfriend – more important to me than God?

• Do I really want to be transformed by the will of God, or do I just use our religion in order to “look” like good Christian people?

• Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?
• Do I claim to have good values, but often bend or abandon them in order to fit in and be “part of the group?”
• Do I seek to surrender myself to God’s Word as taught by the Church?
• Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?
• Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?

The 2nd Commandment:  You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

• Have I used God’s name in vain: lightly or carelessly out of frustration or anger or to look “tough” to others?
• Do I hesitate to mention God’s name in appropriate situations, in conversations with friends and family members?
• Have I been angry with God?
• Have I wished evil upon another person?
• Have I insulted or disrespected a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

The 3rd Commandment:  Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day

• Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation? Do I attend Mass only when it is convenient or when it will make me “feel good?”
• Do I participate in the Eucharist by praying and singing, or do I simply sit as spectators and wait to be entertained?
• Do I pay close attention to the Word of God and open myself to God’s call to allow His word to take effect in my life?
• Do I acknowledge the “true presence” of Christ in the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion with respect and reverence?
• Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
• Do I do needless work on Sunday?

[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B004Y6547A” locale=”us” height=”250″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fbsbt0TqL.jpg” width=”206″]The 4th Commandment:   Honour your Father and your Mother.

• Do I honour and obey my parents?
• Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
• Do I help bring peace and happiness to my family, or am I disrespectful of others and a source of hurt and division for those who are closest to me?
• As a parent, am I generous and patient with our children? Do I spend time with them and give them the attention they need? Do I set responsible limits for them and make sure they follow rules that will help them grow into responsible adults?
• As a parent, am I willing to say “no” to my children, or am I more likely to ignore problem behaviour and hope it will “go away?”
• 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 respect those in authority?

The 5th Commandment:   You shall not kill.

• Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?
• Have I physically harmed anyone?
• Have I placed myself or others in danger because of reckless use of alcohol or other drugs? Have I caused difficulties for myself or others because of their use?
• Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
• Have I been violent or abusive either in action or in speech? Have I been verbally abusive to others?
• Do I strive to forgive those who have hurt me, or do I hold on to resentment and desire for revenge?
• Do I use my powers of influence well, especially my voting rights, in order to fight war, oppression, abortion and injustice, or do I allow those evils to continue by my apathy and silence?
• Do I share with those in need? Do I support the life and mission of the Church by responsible stewardship – sharing our time, talent and treasure?
• Do I bring our Christianity to every day situations, or do I stand on the sidelines and complain about every flaw I can detect in others?
• Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
• Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

The 6th Commandment: – You shall not commit adultery.

• Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?
• Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
• Do I respect the dignity of the human body and the holiness of Christian marriage? Do I show that respect in my speech, or are crude language and jokes often part of my conversations?
• Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?
• Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?
• Have I been guilty of masturbation?
• Have I sought to control my thoughts?
• 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 activity?
• Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?
• Am I careful to dress modestly?
• Have I encouraged others to sin by my failure to maintain good moral standards?

[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B00CUI38XQ” locale=”us” height=”320″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41K8Gwz9t-L._SL160_.jpg” width=”218″]The 7th Commandment:   You shall not steal.

• Have I stolen, damaged or vandalized the property of others?  Do I respect the property of other people?
• Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
• Am I honest and hardworking in school and at work?
• Have I cheated at work or in school? Have I encouraged others to sin by pressuring them into helping me cheat?
• 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?
• Am I faithful to our promises? Can I be trusted?

The 8th Commandment:   You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

• Have I lied?
• Do I gossip about others?  Have I damaged the reputation of another person by exaggeration or making up stories about them?
• Do I stand up for those unjustly accused, or am I merely a channel through which rumours pass, whether or not they are true?
• Have I spoken behind someone else’s back?
• Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
• Can I be trusted with a secret?
• Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
• Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?

The 9th Commandment:    You shall not desire your neighbour’s wife.

• Have I weakened or damaged my marriage commitment through my obsession with another person?
• Do I treat my marriages casually in my conversations and attitudes? Have I said or done anything which made a mockery of my sacred promises?
• Have I consented to impure thoughts?
• Do I respect the commitments of others and help them remain faithful to their promises?
• Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations or curiosity?
• Do I seek to control my imagination?
• Do entertain impure thoughts and temptations or do I pray at once to banish them?

The 10th Commandment:     You shall not desire your neighbour’s goods.

• Am I satisfied with what God has given me, or am I jealous of those who seem to have more?
• Do I appreciate my own good qualities, or do I constantly compare myself with others and become resentful or bitter?
• Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
• Do I try to prove I am better than others by bragging or buying more things?
• Am I greedy or selfish?
• Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
• Do I truly “seek first the Kingdom of God” in my life, trusting that God will care for all of my material and spiritual needs?
• Do I truly “seek first the Kingdom of God” in my life and place my trust in Him?
• Do I cope well with the problems that confront me and maintain my Christian hope in spite of hard times and difficulties?
• Do I reflect the peace, hope and joy of a person redeemed and made holy by the Blood of Christ?