Examination of Conscience English

FOR CHILDREN

Responsibilities toward God:

• Have I prayed every day?
• Have I said my morning and night prayers?
• Have I prayed with my parents and family?
• Have I been grouchy or rebellious about praying or going to church on Sunday?
• Have I asked the Holy Spirit to help me whenever I was tempted to sin?
• Have I asked the Holy Spirit to help me do what is right?

Responsibilities toward others and myself:

• Have I been obedient and respectful to my parents?
• Have I lied to or deceived them or others?
• Have I been arrogant, stubborn, or rebellious?
• Have I talked back to my parents, teachers, or other adults?
• Have I sulked or been in a bad mood?
• Have I been selfish toward my parents, brothers and sisters, teachers, or my friends and classmates?
• Have I gotten angry with them? Have I hit anyone?
• Have I held grudges or refused to forgive others?
• Have I treated other children with respect, or have I made fun of them and called them names?
• Have I used bad language?
• Have I stolen anything? Have I returned it?
• Have I fulfilled my responsibilities, such as homework and chores?
• Have I been helpful and loving toward my family?
• Have I been kind and generous toward my friends?

FOR TEENAGERS AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Responsibilities toward God:

• Have I gone to Mass on Sunday, or have I been rebellious or stubborn about going?
• Did I participate in Mass, or was I distracted?
• Have I prayed every day?
• Have I read the Bible?
• Have I rebelled against God and His commandments?
• Have I misused God’s name by cursing or using bad language?
• Have I told the Father that I love Him for creating me and making me His child?
• Have I thanked Jesus for becoming man, dying for my sin, and rising to give me eternal life?
• Have I asked the Holy Spirit to help me overcome sin and temptation and to be obedient to God’s commandments?

Responsibilities toward others and myself:

• Have I been rebellious, disobedient, or disrespectful toward my parents, teachers, and those in authority?
• Have I lied to or deceived my parents or others?
• Have I been arrogant or stubborn?
• Have I talked back to my parents or authorities?
• Have I become angry or nurtured resentment? Have I refused to forgive others? Have I fostered hatred?
• Have I engaged in sexual fantasies? Have I looked at others with lust?
• Have I read pornographic material or viewed pornographic images, shows, or movies?
• Have I masturbated?
• Have I kissed or touched someone sexually out of lust? Have I had sexual relations?
• Have I had an abortion or encouraged someone else to have one?
• Have I spoken badly about others? Have I slandered anyone? Have I told lies about others? Have I mocked others?
• Have I lied or cheated? Have I stolen anything? Have I returned it?
• Have I been selfish or spiteful toward others? Have I been jealous?
• Have I gotten drunk or used drugs?
• Have I taken part in anything occult: ouija boards, fortune tellers, séances, channeling, astrology?
• Have I been patient, kind, gentle, and self-controlled?
• When my conscience told me to do something good, did I do it or ignore it?

FOR ADULTS

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

• Do I give time to God every day in prayer?
• Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
• Have I been involved in superstitious practices, new age, astrology, fortune tellers, or the occult?
• Do I seek to surrender myself to God’s Word as taught by the Church?
• Have I received Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin?
• Have I deliberately lied in confession or withheld a mortal sin from the priest?

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 insulted a priest or consecrated person, or profaned a sacred object?
• Have I spoken about a priest or consecrated person in a derogatory way?
• Have I damaged anyone’s reputation?

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 keep Sunday as a day of prayer and rest?
• Have I done unnecessary work on Sunday?

4. Honor your father and your mother.

• Do I treat my parents with honor?
• Have I neglected my duties toward anyone?
• Have I given good religious example to my family?
• Do I try to bring peace into every area of my life?
• Do I care for my elderly or sick relatives?

5. You shall not kill.

• Have I had an abortion or encouraged someone to have one?
• Have I promoted pro-abortion (pro-choice) causes or persons?
• Have I physically harmed anyone?
• Have I wished evil upon another person?
• Do I waste time at work, school, or at home?
• Do I gamble excessively?
• Do I pay my debts promptly?
• Do I try to share what I have with the poor?
• Have I treated beggars and those in need with charity?
• Have I abused alcohol or drugs?
• Have I led anyone into sin?
• Have I been angry or resentful?
• Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
• Have I harmed myself in any way?
• Have I promoted or approved sterilization?

6. You shall not commit adultery.

• Have I been faithful to my vows in thought and action?
• Have I engaged in sexual activity outside of marriage?
• Have I used contraception or artificial birth control?
• Has each marital act been open to the transmission of life?
• Have I committed masturbation?
• Do I strive to keep my thoughts pure?
• Do I respect members of the opposite sex, or have I treated them as objects?
• Have I engaged in homosexual activity?
• Do I strive to live chastely in my words and actions?
• Do I dress modestly?

7. You shall not steal.

• Have I taken what does not belong to me?
• Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?

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

• Have I lied?
• Have I gossiped?
• Have I spoken behind someone’s back?
• Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
• Am I critical, negative, or uncharitable in my thoughts about others?
• Do I keep confidential what should remain confidential?

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

• Have I dwelt on desire for someone else’s spouse?
• Have I allowed impure thoughts through reading, movies, conversations, or curiosity?
• Do I seek to control my imagination?
• Do I pray immediately to reject impure thoughts and temptations?

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

• Am I jealous of what others have?
• Do I envy others’ families or possessions?
• Am I greedy or selfish?
• Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
• Do I trust that God will provide for my material and spiritual needs?
• Do I share what I have with those in need?