St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish
6020 W. Ardmore Avenue
Chicago, IL 60646
773-763-8228

Examination of Conscience

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE GUIDELINES TO PREPARE
FOR THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

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 the state of serious sin?
  • Have I ever deliberately told a lie in Confession or have I withheld a serious sin from the priest in Confession?
  • Are there other “gods” in my life? Money, Security, Power, People, etc.?

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 wished evil upon any other person?

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. Honor your father and your mother.

  • Do I honor 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 physically harmed anyone?
  • Have I abused alcohol or drugs?
  • Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading him or her into sin?
  • Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
  • Have I engaged, in any way, in sins against human life such as abortion, euthanasia or 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?
  • Am I open to the transmission of new life in my marriage?
  • Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words, 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, and 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?
  • Have I cheated anyone out of what is justly theirs, for example creditors, insurance companies, big corporations?

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

  • Have I lied? Have I gossiped?
  • Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
  • Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?
  • Have I injured the reputation of others by slander?

9. You shall not desire your neighbor´s wife.

  • Have I consented to impure thoughts?
  • Have I caused them by impure reading, images, pornography, conversation or curiosity?
  • Do I pray to remove impure thoughts and temptations?
  • Have I thought of other people as mere objects of lust?

10. You shall not desire your neighbor’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?