If You Want Heaven,

You'll Need His

Mercy!

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

1. PRIDE

Do I act like I know everything and have all of the answers?
Do I think I am always right?
Do I feel superior to others?
Do I easily judge others?
Do I tend to interpret negative motives in others?
Do I feel irritated if someone corrects me?
Do I ask for forgiveness?
Do I get annoyed when someone contradicts me?
Do I get annoyed if someone interrupts me when I am speaking?
Am I impatient when others don’t do what I want and when I want them to do it?
Do I really not believe in my need for God?
Do I have difficulty realizing on my own that I have hurt others?
Am I brusque or impolite?
Do I get irritated if I do not get the response that I want?
Do I think of myself first?
Do my needs and priorities override the needs and priorities of others?
Do I “get even” when someone hurts, offends, irritates, or embarrasses me?
Do I tend to give my opinion frequently?
Do I get offended when others don’t speak to me, thank me, or recognize me?
Do I speak about myself a lot?
Do I get offended or resentful if I am not chosen for a responsibility that I want?

2. HUMILITY

Am I silent when someone corrects me?
Am I silent when someone confronts me with a truth about myself that I don’t like?Do I take directions from others?
Do I obey in trust?
Do I admit when I am wrong?
Do I accept criticism?
Do I get resentful of offended when others correct me or tell me that I am wrong?
Do I treat others with respect and courtesy, even if they don’t like me?
Am I willing to change my schedule, plans, or what I want to do for others?
Do I graciously change my plans for the good of others?
Do I accept difficulties, hardship, and suffering without complaining, getting angry, or taking it out on others?
Do I see the good in others, far more than their weaknesses?
Do I see my faults?
Can I admit them to others?

3. SACRIFICE VS. SELFISHNESS

Am I attentive to the needs of others?
Do I even notice them, or do I tend to focus on my needs/wants?
Do I do the things I don’t like, simply to help others, without self-interest?
Do I practice self-denial?
Do I give up my desires for other people, or do I tend to push/manipulate/convince to get my way?
Do I stick to my prayer commitments, even if I’m tired or not feeling so good?
Do I try to put a smile on my face, even if I feel lousy, when I know that it is good for others?
Do I help others without being asked?
Do I help others, even when I have a lot to do myself?
Do I freely choose to inconvenience myself for others?
Do I complain when things don’t go how I want?
Do I serve people I don’t like?
Do I help without letting others know about it?
Do I take care of my own wants before those of others?
Do I expect others to do what I want, rather than trying to do what they want?
Do I make concrete efforts to serve my husband/wife?
Do I help my husband/wife/others when my flesh resists?
Do my needs and desires come first in daily life choices?

4. LAZINESS

Do I tend to look for that which is most comfortable, and requires least effort?
Do I leave my responsibilities to the last minute?
Do I avoid any mortification or self-denial?
Do I waste time easily?
Do I tend to complain when I have to do something out of my comfort zone?
Do I try to get other people to do the things that I don’t like?
Do I easily settle for mediocrity rather than pushing myself to excellence?
Do I generally take the easy way?
Do I avoid things that require a lot of effort or work?
Do I ignore things that need to be done just because I don’t like doing them?
Do I oversleep to the point of not following through with my responsibilities?

5. DISCIPLINE/SELF-CONTROL

Do I force myself to do what I should if I am tired?
Do I force myself to do what I should if I don’t want to do it/feel like doing it?
Do I only eat what I like, even if it hurts others or wastes food?
Do my feelings control my work performance?
Do my moods control how I speak to others?
Do I justify my irritability or sharp words by blaming others?
Do people around me pay the price when I’m not happy?
Do I overeat or eat things that I know are bad for me?
Do I get things done on time?
Do I set goals and do what is necessary to meet those goals?
Do I seem to want more chocolate, more coffee, and more sweets even though I know I have had enough?
Do I follow through with what I say I will do, even if it gets hard?
Do I tend to get angry when things don’t go my way?
Do I blame others for my outbursts of anger?
Do I control my tongue when I am angry?
Do I have trouble controlling what I eat or how much I eat?

6. CHARITY TOWARDS OTHERS

Do I give others the benefit of the doubt?
Do I help someone if I see they have a need?
Do I take the initiative to help without being asked?
Do I choose to think the best of someone, rather than the negative?
Do I choose to think the best of someone, even if the situation seems uncertain, until it is proven?
Do I speak well of people or say nothing, rather than speak badly of a person?
Do I feel hurt, resentful, or angry if people don’t see and appreciate what I do?
Do I tend to focus on peoples faults, rather than their good points?
Do I have a sharp tongue?
Do I tend to be the source of information about others people’s lives?
Do I gossip?
Do I speak about other people’s faults and bad behavior?
Do I give information about people’s lives or problems?
Do I criticize others with my facial expressions or body language?
Do I label people?
Do I join in negative conversation when someone is criticized?
Do I stop gossipy conversation?
Do I decide what the motives are for other people’s behavior?
Do I disguise my criticism of others, so that I won’t look like I am critical?

7. FORGIVENESS

Do I forgive those who hurt me?
Do I justify reasons for holding grudges?
Do I see the ways I hurt others as much smaller than how they hurt me?
Do I try to forgive others as Jesus has forgiven me?
Do I choose to forgive quickly?
Do I get people back?
Do I have conversations in my mind, in which I let them have it/tell them what I think of them/get them back?
Do I tend to think and rethink and rethink how someone has hurt me?
Do I verbalize forgiveness to someone who has hurt me?
Do I ask for forgiveness from the persons I have hurt?

8. TRUTH

Do I lie to cover my mistakes?
Do I try to hide what I have done wrong?
Do I use/manipulate conversations to get what I want, yet try to prevent others from realizing I am doing this?
Do I make up my own rules about what is sin and what is not sin?
Am I honest with myself about my weaknesses?
Do I present facts in a certain way to get people to do what I want?
Is the image I present to people truly who I am inside?
Do I keep a hidden life in thought or behavior?
Do I stretch, change or alter the actual reality/the truth to meet my needs or desires?
Do I hide information or behavior that leads others to think what I want?
Do I exaggerate information to achieve my goals?
Do I make excuses for myself, thus justifying my behavior?
Do I act one way with some people and differently with others?
Do I rationalize my own wrong behavior?
Do I work conversations to find out information, while trying to keep others from finding out what I am doing?
Do I deny the truth when others see behaviors, attitudes, or traits that I don’t want them to see?
Do I deny the truth when others see behavior, attitudes, or traits that I don’t want to face about myself?
Do I feel guilty when I distort the truth – when I lie – or am I so accustomed to doing it that I hardly even realize it, much less feel guilty?
Do I purposely hide information when I know it’s relevant, even if I have been asked about it?
Do I say part of the truth but not all of it?
Do I remain silent at times I know my silence will cause the other person to come to the conclusion, to perceive a situation, or to behave as I desire?
Do I present the factual truth at times when I know that it alone does not reveal the entire truth?

9. HUMAN RESPECT

Do I do certain things with the motive of getting people to admire me?
Do I find ways to let people know the good I have done?
Do I get preoccupied with my physical appearance?
Do I say or do things to fit in?
Do I speak about my accomplishments, achievements, or success?
Do I avoid speaking the truth about myself because I want them to like me?
Do I avoid speaking openly about my principles or my faith because of what others might think?
Do I put my security in what others think of me?
Do I avoid confronting others with truth that I know will help them for fear of rejection?
Do I avoid challenging a person, when I know I should, because I don’t want to affect our relationship or don’t want them to be angry at me?
Do I not tell people truths that will help them because I don’t want them to dislike me or judge me?
Do I lie or stretch the truth to look good to others?
Do I act differently with different people?
Do I worry about what people think of me?
Do I try to present a certain image?

10. PURITY

Do I use sexual humor or make sexual comments?
Do I look at pornography via the internet, DVS’s, movies, books or magazines?
Am I sexually involved with anyone who is not my husband/wife?
Do I practice masturbation?
Do I look lustfully at the opposite sex, using the person in my mind?
Do I respect the human body as the “temple of the Holy Spirit”?
Do I choose to entertain impure thoughts and let myself enjoy them?
Do I use others strictly for my sexual pleasure?
Do I treat others as objects, not recognizing their value as children of God?

11. ANGER

Does my tone of voice hurt others?
Do I get irritated or impatient when I am interrupted?
Do I justify my expressions of anger by blaming them on the behavior of others?
Do I justify my expressions of anger by blaming them on the behavior of others?
Do others tell them I hurt them with my angry outbursts?
Do I yell when people or situations are not going the way I want?
Do I react with cutting words when I am annoyed?
Do I deny that I am angry, even though others are convinced that I am?
Do I express impatience with people when they do not do what I want?
Do I get angry if people do not meet my expectations?
Does my anger negatively affect my relationships with others?
Do I hurt the people I love the most by my expressions of impatience, annoyance, frustration, and anger?
Do others tell me that I do not control my anger?
Do I have conflicts at work because of my anger?
Do I defend my hurtful behavior when others confront me about my anger?
Do I describe my anger in ways that make it acceptable to me?
Do I justify my expressions of anger by blaming them on the behavior of others?

12. PRAYER

Do I have a regular prayer time every day?
Am I committed and faithful to my prayer time?
Do I stick to my prayer commitments, even if I am tired, sleepy, or don’t feel like praying?
Do I continue with my prayer in spite of distractions?
Do I allow my moods, disappointments, or struggles to keep me from praying?
Do I pray with my wife/husband?
Do I pray with my wife/husband even when I feel hurt or angry at him/her?
Do I pray with my children?
Do I try to keep growing in my spiritual life, or do I content myself with where I am?
Has my prayer life deepened in the last 6 months?
Do I believe I need the Sacrament of Reconciliation monthly or more, or do I tell myself I really don’t need to go that often?
Am I open, truthful, and specific about my sins when I go to Reconciliation?
Do I receive Holy Communion when I am in the state of mortal sin?
Do I take concrete steps to deepen my prayer life regularly?

Sins that need to be confessed…

Why confess my sins to a priest?

What makes a sin mortal?

How do I go to confession?

Sins that need to be confessed…

Abortion

Adultery

Any dealing with the occult, ie. ouija boards, palm readers, crystals, witchcraft etc…

Artificial Birth Control

Bearing false witness: testifying falsely

Blasphemy: Disrespect toward God or toward His Holy Name.

Breaking promises deliberately

Bringing dishonor to family, school, community, or the Church.

Calumny: telling lies about another

Despair: to believe that God will refuse to forgive you

Destruction of other people's property

Detraction: Telling an unkind truth about another

Disobedience toward parents, teachers, bishop, superiors

Drugs: use of illegal drugs, misuse of prescription drugs

Drunkenness, including underage drinking

Euthanasia: mercy killing ie. excessive morphine drip beyond pain reducing

Excessive materialism

Gluttony: eating or drinking to excess

Gossip: talking about others needlessly

Hatred

Homosexual actions

Impure thoughts deliberately entertained

Indifference to good or evil

Ingratitude

Intentional violation of school rules or the ethical laws of our country

Invitrofertilization

Jealousy

Lack of forgiveness

Laziness

Lying

Malice: the deliberate choice of evil

Masturbation: impure acts with self

Missing Mass on Sunday or Holyday of Obligation

Murder

NOT PRAYING EVERYDAY

Not giving to the poor and the Church

Not taking medicines responsibly-(for mortal sin, depends on the importance of the med)

Premarital sex: including oral sex, intercourse, and impure touching. Other physical expressions appropriate to marriage can become near occasions of sin for the unmarried

Presumption: Sinning and saying God MUST forgive me

Pride

Prostitution

Reckless driving that endangers you, passengers, or others

Resentments

Rudeness

Selfishness

Sterilization

Stealing

Superstition

Unjustified Anger

Using others for personal gain

Watching or looking at pornography

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Why confess my sins to a priest?

Because Jesus wants it that way!

The sacrament of penance was instituted by Christ on Easter Sunday night, when he told the Apostle's, “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (John 20:22-23). The Catholic Church interprets these words to imply that Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors not merely the right to declare that a person's sins are forgiven but also the power of forgiving in Christ's name those who are judged worthy of remission and of withholding absolution for those who are not disposed to be absolved.

As defined by the Catholic Church, the confession and absolution of sins is “truly and properly a sacrament, instituted by Christ our Lord, for reconciling the faithful to God as often as they fall into sin after baptism” (Denzinger 1701).

- taken from Fr. Hardon SJ, Modern Cath. Dictionary.

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What makes a sin mortal?

For a sin to be mortal (death to the soul), three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

See CCC [Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1857, 1858, 1859,etc…]

All other sins are venial: “An offense against God which does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace. The soul still has the vital principle that allows a cure from within, similar to the healing of of a sick or diseased body whose source of animation (the soul) is still present to restore the ailing bodily function to health.”

- taken from Fr. Hardon SJ, Modern Cath. Dictionary.

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How do I Go To Confession?

“Click” on Examinations of Conscience - Adults, Teens, Children for more examinations and the prayers for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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