Below are suggestions in preparation for a fruitful confession. This examination focuses on the Ten Commandments and gives examples of the kinds of sins that tend to be committed against each Commandment.

I. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have false gods before me.

  • Have I rejected God’s revelation as it comes to me through the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church? Did I fail to pray daily? Did I abandon the Catholic Faith for any period of time?
  • Have I sought money, power, sexuality, or any other lesser good as if it were the supreme good? Have I despaired of God’s help? Have I taken for granted God’s mercy?
  • Have I placed faith in superstition? Did I believe in (or use) horoscopes, fortune telling, good luck charms, tarot cards, Ouija boards or reincarnation?

II. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

  • Have I used the name of God in cursing or blasphemy? Have I used the words “God” “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ” in anger or irreverently?
  • Have I disrespected the holiness of God or of things or persons dedicated to God?
  • Have I lied under oath or failed to keep vows made in God’s sight?

III. You shall keep holy the Sabbath day

  • Have I failed, through my own fault, to worship God by attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation? Do I try to be reverent and pay attention during Mass?
  • Have I kept Sunday holy by using it as a day for recreation with family and friends, for charitable activity, and for extra prayer?

IV. You shall honor your father and your mother.

  • Have I fulfilled my obligations toward my parents, especially in their advancing years? Have I dishonored or mistreated them by word or deed? Do I try to get along with my siblings?
  • Have I been respectfully obedient to those who are legitimate authorities over me?

V. You shall not kill.

  • Have I contributed to, or permitted in any way, the taking of human life through murder, abortion, or euthanasia? Have I done damage to another’s health or well-being through the use of alcohol, drugs, or some other self-destructive behavior?
  • Have I acted on anger unjustly? Have I wished ill fate to befall another? Do I say mean things about others behind their backs?
  • Have I done anything that gives bad example to others that might lead them to sin?

VI and IX. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

  • Have I engaged in voluntary sexual intercourse outside of marriage? Have I been sexually impure with myself or others? Do I treat my body and other people’s bodies with purity and respect? Did I deliberately look at impure television, internet, plays, pictures or movies? Did I use impure or suggestive words? Did I dress immodestly or provocatively?
  • Within marriage, have I engaged in sexual activity without regard for showing love to my spouse or without openness to the possibility of conceiving children? Has my marriage been celebrated in the Catholic Church or with the permission of the Catholic Church?

VII and X. You shall not steal. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

  • Have I respected others’ property, or taken another’s goods or willfully damaged them?
  • Have I failed to share my resources with those less fortunate than me? Have I been discontent with my own blessings from God and envied others?

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

  • Have I told serious lies? Have I gossiped? Have I disclosed the faults of another without serious reasons for doing so?
  • Have I willfully and maliciously damaged another’s reputation?