Before going to Confession:

Here are a few points to examine ones conscience based on the 10 Commandments.

[1]     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 seek to love Him with my whole heart?
•    Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?
•    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?
[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?
•    Have I been angry with God?
•    Have I wished evil upon another person?
•    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?
•    Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
•    Do I do needless work on Sunday?
[4]     Honour your Father and your Mother.
•    Do I honour and obey my parents?
•    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?
[5]    You shall not kill.
•    Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?
•    Have I physically harmed anyone?
•    have I abused alcohol or drugs?
•    Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
•    Have I been angry or resentful?
•    Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
•    Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
•    Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?
[6]    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?
•    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?
[7]    You shall not steal.
•    Have I stolen what is not mine?
•    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]     You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
•    Have I lied?
•    Have I gossiped?
•    Have I spoken behind someone else’s back?
•    Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
•    Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
•    Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?
[9]     You shall not desire your neighbour’s wife.
•    Have I consented to impure thoughts?
•    Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations or curiosity?
•    Do I seek to control my imagination?
•    Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?
[10]     You shall not desire your neighbour’s goods.
•    Am I jealous of what other people have?
•    Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
•    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 and spiritual needs?