The First Commandment
1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.
• Have I received Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin?
• Have I neglected to confess a mortal sin in a previous confession
to a priest, when I was aware of having committed one?
• Have I practiced superstition?
• Have I been engaged in occult practices such as consulting
horoscopes, tarot cards, or ouija boards?
• Have I participated in seances, or in satanic or demonic services
and/or prayers?
• Have I refused to accept any teaching of the Church?
• Have I put my soul in danger by reading, viewing, or listening to
material that attacks the teachings of the Catholic Church in matters
of faith or morals?
• Do I belong to any anti-Catholic organizations?
• Have I attended the meetings or gatherings of any anti-Catholic
organizations?
• Have I profaned (desecrated) or spoken sinfully against a sacred
person, place, or thing?
• Have I been slow or reluctant to perform my duties toward God?
• Have I neglected to pray?
• Have I neglected to prepare myself properly for Holy Communion?
The Second Commandment
2. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.
• Have I taken the Holy Name of God in vain?
• Have I spoken His Name in anger?
• Have I jokingly or irreverently spoken about God?
• Have I been a baptismal or confirmation sponsor in a non-Catholic
ceremony?
• Have I broken any promises (oaths) in which I invoked God’s
Name?
The Third Commandment
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
• Have I failed to attend Mass on Sundays or holy days of obligation
without just cause (for example, serious illness or impassible roads
or pathways)?
• Have I arrived at Mass on Sundays or holy days of obligation after
the Liturgy of the Word without just cause?
• Have I worn improper attire to Mass, or have I otherwise
distracted others from paying attention at Mass?
• Do I fast and practice abstinence on the days or at times which
are appointed by the Church?
• Have I fulfilled my yearly Easter duty of receiving Holy Communion
(and Confession, if necessary)?
• Have I fulfilled the Church’s precept to confess my sins at
least once a year? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2042)
• Have I performed (or required others to perform) servile or manual
labor on Sundays (not including work to save souls or work required by
your employer, enjoyable gardening, or acts of mercy such as helping a
neighbor in need or milking cows and feeding livestock)?
• Have I deliberately failed to pay attention at Mass?
• Am I generous in helping the Church in her necessities as much as
I can?
The Fourth Commandment
4. Honor your father and your mother.
For Parents:
• Have I set a bad example for my children?
• When I do correct my children’s faults, is it done with charity?
• Have I made sure that my children make their First Confession and
First Communion at about the age of seven?
• Have I failed to take my children to Mass on Sundays and holy days
of obligation; or neglected to provide them with an orthodox Catholic
education; or neglected to teach them how to pray; or failed to lead
them to the sacraments?
• Have I failed to supervise my children with respect to the friends
they choose and the entertainment they pursue?
• Do I monitor my children in their choice of reading material, in
the shows they watch on television, or in the movies they attend?
• Have I separated from or divorced my spouse civilly without
consultation of a priest who follows the mind of the Church?
• Do I seek God’s help every day to fulfill my duties as a parent?
For Children:
• Have I disobeyed my parents, or been disrespectful to them in
other ways?
• Do I nurse angry feelings or show resentment when I am corrected
by my parents?
• Have I been moody, sour, or bad-tempered towards other people?
• Do I desire to leave my parents’ household when I am too young
or for other improper reasons?
• Am I a financial burden to my parents when I can take care of my
own financial needs and am old enough to help support the household?
• Do I fight and/or quarrel with my brothers and sisters?
• Have I failed to express my love for my parents?
• Have I failed to help my parents when they were unable to meet
their basic needs?
• Do I faithfully perform — without complaining — the household
and outdoor chores my parents give me to do?
The Fifth Commandment
5. You shall not kill.
• Have I lost my temper or become unjustly angry at others?
• Have I murdered or otherwise unjustly injured (no matter how
slight) anyone?
• Have I been a reckless driver?
• Have I tempted others to sin by my bad example or sinful
conversation?
• Have I encouraged others to read or watch sinful materials or
programs or to otherwise do sinful things?
• Have I tried to make up for, or repair for, the bad example I may
have given others?
• Have I been jealous of others? Have I been envious of the
possessions of others?
• How many people have I led into sin? What type of sins were they?
• Have I tried to commit suicide?
• Have I failed to take proper care of my health?
• Have I mutilated myself or someone else?
• Have I been drunk or intoxicated on alcohol or other substances?
• Have I intentionally overindulged in food or drink (gluttony)?
• Have I participated in gang fights or other illegal gang
activities?
• Have I picked fights with others?
• Have I been a bully?
• Have I consented to a sterilization or encouraged others to do so,
or actively taken part in someone else’s sterilization?
• Have I practiced contraception or encouraged others to do so?
• Have I recommended, consented to, advised, or actively taken part
in an abortion?
• Am I aware of the Church’s teaching that abortion is a mortal
sin, and that those who actively take part (for example, doctor,
nurse, and mother) in an abortion are automatically excommunicated?
(However, most priests have the authority to lift that
excommunication.)
• Have I harmed anyone’s reputation by my speech or actions?
• Have I desired to take revenge of anyone who offended me?
• Have I hated or nursed bad feelings toward any person?
• Have I maliciously teased or insulted others?
• Have I refused to forgive anyone who may have offended me?
• Have I sought pardon of those whom I have offended?
The Sixth and Ninth Commandments
6. You shall not commit adultery.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
• Have I entertained impure thoughts? Have I deliberately recalled
impure thoughts or images? Do I watch soap operas or other impure
programs?
• Have I had sexual relations with a member of the opposite sex when
we weren’t married to each other (fornication)?
• Have I had sexual relations with a married person who is not my
spouse (adultery)?
• Although I may never have fully carried them out, have I consented
to impure desires?
• Were any circumstances present to make the sin of impurity even
more serious, for example, having impure relations with someone who is
consecrated to God by vows (sacrilege), or who is married to someone
other than myself (adultery), or who is a member of my family (other
than my spouse if I am married) (incest)?
• Have I engaged in impure conversations? Did I begin them?
• Have I sought to have a good time by engaging in entertainment
which placed me in proximate [close] occasions of sin, such as sensual
dances; sexually suggestive movies, plays, and reading material; evil
company; houses of prostitution; and massage parlors?
• Am I aware of the fact that I might already be sinning by simply
placing myself in a proximate occasion of sin? Such circumstances can
include sharing of a room with a member of the opposite sex, being
alone with a member of the opposite sex with whom I have continually
sinned with, or deliberately taking such a person to a secluded place.
• Have I neglected to dress modestly or to otherwise safeguard
purity?
• Have I willfully looked at immodest pictures?
• Have I displayed immodest looks or glances at others?
• Did I do any of the above things, knowing that they involved
gravely sinful matter?
• Have I led others to commit the sins of immodesty or impurity?
Specifically speaking, what were they?
• Have I committed impure acts by myself (masturbation)? Did I do so
deliberately and freely, knowing that serious matter was involved? Did
I know that masturbation freely and willfully performed is a mortal
sin?
• Have I committed impure acts with someone else either of the
opposite or the same sex (homosexual acts)? How many times did I do
so? Were there any circumstances (such as impure acts with members of
my family other than my spouse, or with persons consecrated to God by
vows or promises) which could have made the sin especially serious?
• Did these sinful acts have any consequences?
• Did I do anything to prevent possible consequences (artificial
contraception) or to eliminate actual consequences after the
conception of new life (abortion)?
• Do I have evil or immoral friendships? Have I taken steps to break
these friendships?
• Have I been engaged in immodest conduct or conversation with
someone I am seriously thinking of marrying?
• Have I tended to use this person as an object for my pleasure,
rather than a person created in God’s image and likeness whom God
has placed in my life to respect and reverence?
• Have I been involved in acts which arouse lustful desires (such as
prolonged embraces, petting, and passionate kissing)?
• Have I failed to protect my spouse, fiance, or friend from
sinning?
• Have I failed to investigate beforehand the sinful potentials of
watching a particular show or reading a particular book or magazine?
For Married People:
• Have I made improper use of marriage?
• Have I denied my spouse of her or his marital right?
• Have I engaged in adulterous acts or desires?
• Have I used or consented to the use of artificial contraceptives?
• Have I suggested that others do so? (On sterilization, abortion,
etc., refer to the Fifth Commandment)
• Do I practice natural means of conception control without
justifiable reasons before God for doing so?
The Seventh and Tenth Commandments
7. You shall not steal.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
• Have I stolen anything? What was it worth?
• Have I returned the stolen item, or do I intend to return it?
• Have I damaged or been responsible for the damage of another
person’s property? What would be the cost of repairing or replacing
it?
• Have I caused harm to anyone in business dealings by means of
fraud, deception, or coercion?
• Have I spent beyond my means?
• Have I deprived others of their needs by spending too little?
• Have I supported the Church and charitable organizations according
to my means?
• Have I honored my debts?
• Have I taken stolen property or refused to seek the owner of
property that I have found?
• Have I seriously entertained temptations to steal?
• Have I been lazy with respect to my employment, household chores,
work, or studies?
• Have I been greedy?
• Have I placed too high a value on material goods?
• Have I failed to help those whom I know are truly needy?
• Have I been irresponsible with money or other means of wealth
which God has entrusted to me?
• Have I been envious of the wealth or material goods of another
person?
The Eighth Commandment
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
• Have I lied?
• Have I sought to make up for the damage caused by my lies?
• Have I accused others of wrongdoing without sufficient evidence?
• Have I been guilty of detraction (that is, speaking about the
faults of others without having a good reason for doing so)?
• Have I been guilty of calumny (that is, to falsely accuse someone
of sinful conduct)?
• Have I gossiped about another person?
• Have I too hastily judged someone of improper conduct?
• Have I, without sufficient cause, suspected someone to be guilty
of misconduct?
• Have I been excessively critical, negative, or uncharitable in my
speech?
• Have I failed to honor the confidences or secrets entrusted to me
by another? Have I revealed them to someone else without permission or
without due or serious cause?
• Have I used the technique of binding others to secrecy about
something that should be revealed to lawful authority? Do I realize
that this practice is very divisive if it is outside of Confession?
• Have I failed to defend the good name or honor of others?
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