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?