EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

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[1]   I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

• Do I give God time every day in prayer?

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• Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?

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• Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?

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• Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the Church?

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• Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?

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• Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?

 

[2]     You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

• Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?

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• Have I been angry with God?

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• Have I wished evil upon another person?

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• Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

[3]     Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

• Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?

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• Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?

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• Do I do needless work on Sunday?

 

[4]     Honor your Father and your Mother.

• Do I honor and obey my parents?

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• Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?

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• Have I given my family good religious example?

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  Do I try to bring peace into my home life?

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• Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?

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[5]    You shall not kill.

• Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?

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• Have I physically harmed anyone?

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• Have I abused alcohol or drugs?

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• Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?

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• Have I been angry or resentful?

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• Have I harbored hatred in my heart?

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• Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?

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• Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

 

[6]    You shall not commit adultery.

• Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?

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• Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?

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• Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?

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• Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?

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• Have I been guilty of masturbation?

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• Have I sought to control my thoughts?

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• Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?

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• Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?

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• Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?

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• Am I careful to dress modestly?

 

[7]    You shall not steal.

• Have I stolen what is not mine?

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• Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?

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• Do I waste time at work, school or at home?

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• Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?

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• Do I pay my debts promptly?

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• Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?

 

[8]     You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

• Have I lied?

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• Have I gossiped?

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• Have I spoken behind someone else's back?

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• Am I sincere in my dealings with others?

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• Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?

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• Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?

 

[9]     You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.

• Have I consented to impure thoughts?

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• Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations or curiosity?

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• Do I seek to control my imagination?

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• Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?

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[10]     You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.

• Am I jealous of what other people have?

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• Do I envy the families or possessions of others?

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• Am I greedy or selfish?

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• Are material possessions the purpose of my life?

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• Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and spiritual needs?