Examination of Conscience

I. Against faith and reverence

• Have I deliberately doubted a truth of the Catholic faith?
• Have I complained against God when I suffered or when others prospered?
• Have I given up hope in God's mercy, or used His mercy as an excuse to keep sinning?
• Have I trusted fortune-tellers, consulted them, or taken part in superstitious practices?
• Have I taken part in worship outside the Catholic Church?
• Have I neglected morning or evening prayer, or avoided religious duties because I feared what others would think?
• Have I read material that attacks the Catholic faith or promotes atheism?
• Have I mocked or treated priests, religious, or sacred things with disrespect?

II. The holy name and holy days

• Have I used God's name disrespectfully or treated anything sacred with contempt?
• Have I lied under oath, made an oath carelessly, or sworn an oath over something trivial?
• Have I called down evil on myself or others, or deliberately provoked someone to swear or insult God?
• Have I missed Mass, deliberately let my attention wander during Mass, or behaved disrespectfully in church?
• Have I dishonored Sundays or holy days through unnecessary shopping, selling, manual work, or sinful dancing, drinking, gambling, or other misconduct?

III. Duties toward others

• Have I shown the respect I owe to my parents, employers, and others with legitimate authority?
• Have I deceived or disobeyed them, or failed to show proper respect to older people?
• Have I held on to hatred, wanted revenge, refused to forgive, or used words meant to provoke others?
• Have I harmed others, turned people against each other, treated anyone unjustly or cruelly, or helped bring about someone's death?

IV. Purity, justice, and truth

• Have I sinned against chastity in my thoughts, words, or actions?
• Have I stolen, cheated in buying or selling, or damaged someone else's property?
• Have I lied about someone, exposed another person's sins, judged without enough evidence, or used insulting names?
• Have I wrongly desired something that belongs to another person?

Precepts of the Church

• Have I missed Mass on a Sunday or holy day of obligation without a serious reason?
• Have I failed to fast or abstain from meat when the Church required it of me?
• Have I gone a full year without confessing serious sins?
• Have I failed to receive Holy Communion during the Easter season?
• Have I refused to support the Church and her pastors fairly according to my means?
• Have I entered or planned a marriage contrary to Church law, or without the Catholic form or permission required of me?

Church discipline and the way an obligation applies can change. If you are unsure what was required of you, ask a priest rather than deciding your guilt from this guide alone.