Have I violated the Ten Commandments?

1. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have other gods before Me.

Do I love with all my heart the Lord who loves me and cares for me?
Do I seek His presence, pray daily,and trust in Him,
or have I failed to place Him first,
or even betrayed Him through occult practices?

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord our God in vain.

Do I revere God’s name, or have I taken it lightly, carelessly, or blasphemously,
even wishing evil on others?
Have I received Him worthily in Holy Communion,
or did I receive Him in a state of mortal sin*?

3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.

Do I worship the Lord by taking part in Mass on Sundays and Holy Days,
or have I been indifferent to the Eucharist, to Christ’s redeeming love,
preferring earthly goods for my family and self by deliberately
missing Mass on a Sunday or Holy Day of Obligation?
Is Sunday my day of rest?

4. Honor your father and your mother.

Have I loved, respected, and obeyed my parents who gave me life?
Do I care for them when they are in need or in old age?
Do I forgive them when they are at fault?
In difficulties, am I patient with them?

5. You shall not kill.

Have I loved my neighbor,
or have I physically harmed or hastened the death of another
through violence, abortion, euthanasia, drugs, hatred,
the morning-after pill, or abuse?
Have I practiced ways of life that are harmful to my family
and self — spiritually and physically?
Do I eat or drink immoderately?

6. You shall not commit adultery.
and
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

Have I been pure and holy in thoughts, words, and actions,
or have I been unfaithful to my spouse or desirous of another?
Have I been sexually active outside of marriage,
or with another of the same sex?

Have I indulged in pornography, masturbation, contraception,
and other sexual sins?
Have I acted against my conscience and led others into sexual sin?

7. You shall not steal.
and
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

Do I respect other’s goods, or have I been envious and greedy,
even taking what belongs to another?
Have I neglected to return stolen goods or make equal restitution?

Have I paid my debts? Have I wasted time at work, at school, or at home?

Have I squandered my resources on non-essentials or on gambling?
Have I failed to work for justice, or to support the poor and the Church in its mission?
Have money or possessions become my god?

1. Make an Examination of Conscience.

Try to be thorough, but don’t be terrified of forgetting a sin.
Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of anything you’re forgetting.
Remember that grave/mortal sins must be confessed.
Venial sins should be confessed,
especially if they have become habitual or there are a great many.

2. Go to Confession.

Confessions may be held in confessionals in churches, in pews or on chairs in the church, outside,
or wherever some measure of privacy is possible.
Often, you will have the choice to either confess to the priest face-to-face or from behind a screen.

If both options are available, it is your choice which to use.

3. When you are in the confessional, say,
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. My last
Confession was ... .”

If you cannot remember when your last Confession was, just be honest.
Give an estimate.
The priest is glad you have come to Confession now
— he’s not going to judge you for how long (or how short!)
it’s been since your last Confession.

4. Confess your sins in number and in kind, to the best of your recollection.
If you cannot remember, give an estimate, or indicate
when something was committed more than once.

5. Conclude with,

“For these sins and all others I have forgotten or did
not discern, I am truly sorry.”

6. The priest will give you a penance and
ask you to make an Act of Contrition.
You can use the following:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having
offended You, and I detest all my sins, because
I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they offend You,
my God, You who are all good and deserving
of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of
Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance,
and to amend my life. Amen.

7. The priest will say the words of absolution.
You have been absolved so long as a validly ordained priest prays
at least these words over you:
“I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Trust in Jesus —
your sins have truly been forgiven and washed away.

8. Go and perform your penance.