EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE



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 practice 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 mortal sin? 

  -Have I ever deliberately told a lie in Confession or have I withheld a mortal 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 been angry with God?               

-Have I wished evil upon any other 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.  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 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?

-Have I engaged in sins against human life such as artificial insemination or in-vitro  fertilization?

-Have participated in or approved of euthanasia?


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?

-Do I seek to control my thoughts and imaginations?

-Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other  people as  mere   objects?

-Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?

-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 riot mine?                                                           

-Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?

-Do I waste time at work, school!, 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?.                             

-Do I speak badly of others behind their 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 neighbor's wife.                                    


-Have I consented to impure thoughts?                       

-Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversation or curiosity?

-Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?        


10.    You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.

.

-Am iI 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?

                                                               

      We don’t like to speak the truth about evil because were going to hurt somebody. Let me tell you, you are going to hurt somebody, but that Somebody is God. If you would rather hurt God than hurt your neighbor, there is something wrong with your spirituality. It’s your obligation to speak the truth and everyone can either take it or leave it. But truth must be in us. We live in such poverty of truth today.


                                                                                                                                          Mother Angelica


We must manifest the Kingdom of heaven upon earth. The light of divine truth must proceed from our hearts and shine out upon everything we are and everything we do.


They who are holy in spirit are holy in body. They who submit their wills to Christ bow their bodies. They who offer the heart bow the knee. They who have faith in His Name bow the head. They who honor His Cross inwardly are not ashamed of it before men.


Let Us Pray



Dear Jesus, it is Thy will that Christians let their light shine before the world. Help me to be an example to all with whom I come in contact. Amen.



                             ~Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman~











From a Sermon by St. Barnardine of Siena:



"The name of Jesus is the glory of preachers, because the shining splendor of that name causes his word to be proclaimed and heard. And how do you think such an immense, sudden and dazzling light of faith came into the world, if not because Jesus was preached? Was it not through the brilliance and sweet savor of this name that God called us into his marvelous light? When we have been enlightened, and in that same light behold the light of heaven, rightly may the apostle Paul say to us: Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light."


"So this name must be proclaimed, that it may shine out and never be suppressed. But it must not be preached by someone with sullied mind or unclean lips, but stored up and poured out from a chosen vessel. That is why our Lord said of Saint Paul: He is a chosen instrument of mine, the vessel of my choice, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. In this chosen vessel there was to be a drink more pleasing than earth ever knew, offered to all mankind for a price they could pay, so that they would be drawn to taste of it. Poured into other chosen vessels, it would grow and radiate splendor. For our Lord said: He is to carry my name."


Aeterne Pater, qui Filio tuo incarnato sanctum nomen Iesum dedisti signum esse salutis nostrae: Infunde, quaesumus, in omne cor caritatem illius qui mundi Salvator est, Domini nostri Iesu Christi; qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.


Eternal Father, who didst give to thine incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we beseech thee, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, even our Lord Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.



So natural is the connection between a reverential spirit in worshiping God and faith in God that the wonder only is how anyone for a moment can imagine he has faith in God and yet allow himself to be irreverent toward Him.


To believe in God is to believe the being and the presence of One Who is All-holy, and All-powerful and All-gracious; how can a man really believe thus of Him and yet make free with Him?


All holy creatures are praising God continually—we hear them not, still they are praising Him. All the angels, the glorious company of the Apostles, the Holy Church universal, all the spirits and souls of the righteous, all are praising and praying to God.


We come to church to join them. We do not deserve to come—consider what a great favor it is to be allowed to join in the praises and prayers of the City of God.


O Eternal Beauty, may my greatest joy be to praise Thee all my days here on earth and forever in Heaven.  Amen.



                                                                             ~Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman~