Penitential Act

I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts
and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. Through my fault, through my
fault, through my most grievous fault.
Therefore, I ask Blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to
pray for me, to the Lord our God.

Prayer to Guardian Angel for a good confession

I ask you, O my Guardian Angel, my holy patron …………..., St. Peter and St. Mary Magdalen and all
the saints of God. Intercede for me a sinner, assist me that I may be able to declare my sins to the priest,
fully, humbly, and with a contrite heart. Send forth God’s light into my soul, and reveal to me all those
sins which I ought to confess at this time. O most merciful Jesus, be merciful unto me a sinner. Amen.

or

My Guardian Angel, my strong pillar, you are a silent witness to all the sins I have committed and though
saddened by my flaws, you never forsaked me. Therefore, I pray to you, that the confession I am about
to make now, will not be a cause of harsh judgment, but will give peace to my soul and relief to my
sufferings. Amen.
1 Hail Mary

Self-Examination
The most important commandment:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and
with all your strength”. Mark 12.30

● Those who love me will obey my commandments. (John 14:21, 23, 24)
● Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15.12)
● If you do not forgive others, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you. (Mathew 6:14,18: 35)
● We are not living, but dead if we do not love each other. (1 John 3:14)
● “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me.” (Mathew
25:45)
● “The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way; all who do not do
what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers or sisters” (1 John
3:10)
● “Do not touch my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm.” (1 Chronicles 16:22).
In 2 Chronicles 26:19 we see the Lord striking King Uzziah with a leprous disease when he insulted
the Priests.
● Have you sinned, in thoughts or in words, against the Lord’s anointed ones?
● Satan is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
● Do not judge so that you may not be judged. (Mathew 7:1, Romans 2:1)
● Greed which is the same as idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
● Do not be a cause for others to fall. (Luke 17:1)
● Fornication, impurity, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissentions, factions,
envy, drunkenness…. (Galatians 5:19)
● Wrongdoers – idolaters, adulterers, thieves, homosexuals, fornicators…. will not inherit the
kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:10) Are you truly aware of this truth?
● “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and
worries of this world.” (Luke 21:34)
 ● Do you take up your daily crosses in a manner God desires of you? (Luke 9:23)
● When you give a banquet invite the blind, the crippled, the lame and the blind. (Luke 14:13)
● Love your wives and submit to your husbands. (Galatian 5:22-25)
● “Children, obey your parents.” (Ephesians 6:1)
● My child, help your father in his old age and do not grieve him as long as he lives. (Sirach 3:12-16)

The Ten Commandments

1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.
4. Honour your father and mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
9. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods.

These ten commandments can be summarised into two:

1. Love God above all.

2. Love one another as yourself.

The Ten Commandments – An examination

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.

Have I believed in other gods, gave adoration/worship to them? Have I believed/practised witchcraft,
horoscope, omens?

● Have I worn/still wear amulets, sacred threads, charms?

● Have I been to/ taken advice from sorcerers, witches, Jinhs or black magicians?
● Have I hid/buried anything related to black magic in my house/fields?
● Have I bound the boundaries of my house with black magic?
● Have I resorted to solving problems through tarot reading, tea leaves, spiritism, etc
● Have I inspired anyone towards black magic?
● Have I visited places of Spiritism?
● Have I offered offerings at temples?
● Have I bowed before images of other Gods?
● Have I used/eaten food offerings, sweets, oil, powders, water offered to other gods?
● Have I done palm reading, occult arts, horoscopy, good omen sightings, Satan worship, Vaastu?
● Have I believed in superstitions? e.g., Black cat crossing, lucky days and numbers, three times a
charm and such other beliefs…
● Have I relied on the words of visionaries and soothsayers instead of relying on God, or have I
encouraged others to do so? (Jer. 23:16, 25-18)
 ● Have I given too much importance or feared the saints more than God? Have I spoken or thought
disrespectfully about them? (Deuteronomy 6:6-11)
● Have I tried to please people more than God? Have I given secondary place to God so as to please
people? (Gal. 1:10, 1 Sam. 15:25)
● Have I enough faith/lack of faith in God and sacraments?
● Have I given more importance to any seasons/time?

B. Do I have pride?
a. Do I desire honour and positions?
b. Am I stubborn?
c. Do I have a selfish lifestyle?
d. Do I live/love a luxury life?
e. Do I have greed for money?
f. Do I idolize my work?
g. Do I have gluttony?
h. Am I obsessed/addicted to movies, serials?
i. Do I have any addictions to alcohol, drugs, cigarette, playing cards, gambling, etc.?
j. Have I pushed others into undesired habits?
k. Have I thanked God for His goodness and mercy? (Romans 1:18-32; Luke 17:11-19,
1Peter 2:9-10)
l. Have I cultivated/improved my God-given talents and skills?
m. Have I put those talents to use? (1 Timothy 1:14)

C. Any special likings to people or things that is unhealthy?

a. Have I given the first priority in my life to God? Have any of these been wrongly
prioritised in my life – money, people, clothes, beauty, health, honour, luxuries, work, family,
power, friends, reputation, etc.
b. Have I in any instance, not loved God?

D. Have I brought ill reputation on those specially consecrated to God like priests, nuns, evangelists,
preachers?
a. Have I humiliated or hurt them?
b. Have I entered into court cases with the Church?

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

● Do I tend to swear frequently? Have I cursed God?

● Have I done false witnesses/perjury?
● Have I filed false cases?
● Have I borne false witness in a court, in an office of authority, police station?
● Do I have any unfulfilled vows or prayers?
● Have I spoken disrespectfully of God?
● Have I spoken /insulted Saints or Holy objects?
● Have I been in companionship with those who do not accept the divinity of Jesus?
● Have I ever been ashamed to testify Jesus Christ in front of others? (Romans 10:9, Luke
9:25-25)
 ● Have I come in association with those who twist or put a different meaning to the teachings of
Jesus Christ than that is intended, gone to their homes and attended their prayer meetings? (John
2:22-29; 2 John 9-11)
● Have I ever cursed? Have I said that God is the cause of my downfall?
● Have I misused, insulted, hated or misinterpreted the Word of God?
● Do I read the Holy Book, Bible daily? And have I helped to spread the Scriptures in any way, I
could? (2 Cor. 9:16; Deuteronomy 6:69)
● Have I borne false witnesses in God’s name or manipulated someone to do so? Have I used the
name of God disrespectfully, frequently? (Sirach 23:9-11)
● Vows are all for the glory of God. Have vows not been fulfilled deliberately? Am I quick to make a
vow to God? (Sirach 18:22, 23:11, 12; Exodus 35:21, Deut. 23:21-23)
● Have I resorted to false confessions? Have I ignored the scriptures?
● Do I immerse/indulge myself in meaningless prayer?

III. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.

● Have I deliberately not attended the Eucharist Celebration on Sundays and holy days? Was my
dressing, conduct, posture appropriate to the celebration of the Holy Mass? Have I brought
discomfort to my fellow worshippers because of these or any other reasons? Have I worked on
Sunday or made others work? Have I interfered with the observance of the holy day? Was I
diligent in setting aside time for godly things that day? (Actively and attentively) (Deuteronomy
5:12-15; Isaiah 58:13-14)
● Have I received The Eucharist in an unworthy manner?
● Do I do or make others do manual labour on Sundays?
● Do I acknowledge that my wealth, talents, health …is a gift from God or do I consider them as
something I earned by myself? (James 4:13, Deuteronomy 8:17)
● What is the status of my prayer life? Do I regularly do my personal prayer, family prayer? Have I
attended these prayers half-heartedly? (Luke 21:34,38)
● Have I received the Sacraments unworthily and without proper preparation or in a state of
unbelief? (1 Corin 11: 27-32)
● Have I not done my yearly confession? Have I refrained from receiving The Eucharistic during the
Holy week and other obligatory days?
● Have I abstained from meat on Fridays?
● Have I abstained from forbidden foods on the days prescribed by the Church?
● Have you celebrated a wedding during Lent or associated in marriage with people who have been
excluded from the Church?
● Have you entered into a registered marriage ? ( Where you do not enter into a sacrament of
marriage in Church but solely comes into union as per law.)
● Have I encouraged anyone for a registered marriage?
● Have I given the portion to church, clergy and servers as determined by the appropriate
authority?
● Have the tithes that should be given to God been postponed and not paid?
● Have I obstructed the preaching of the Word of God in any manner?
● Have I given thanks for blessings received?
● Have I behaved in a manner that defiled the holiness of the church/church premises?
● Have I forgotten/forsaken God in any part of my life?
● Have I ever felt fed up with God?
● Have I ever propagated hatred towards God?
 ● Have I turned away from God after receiving blessings and experiencing his goodness?
● Have I ever provoked God?
● Have I belittled the glory of God?
● Have I ever tested God?
● Have I rejected God’s plan of salvation?
● Have I overlooked/neglected the works of God?

IV HONOUR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER

a. Have I disrespected my parents?
b. Have I given love and acceptance to them?
c. Have I hurt them or wounded them by speech or action?
d. Have I given my help and care to them in their sickness, fatigue and old age?

V. You shall not kill

a. Have I held hatred, grudge or animosity against anyone?
b. Have I tarnished the reputation of others?
c. Have I come as a hindrance to others getting married?
d. Have I resorted to abortion?
e. Have I considered /deliberated abortion at any point?
f. Have you supported abortion in ideology or practice?
g. Have I encouraged anyone for abortion?
h. Have I done penances with respect to abortions done?
i. Have I attempted suicide?
j. Have I guided /supported suicide?
k. Have I been the cause of anyone’s death?
l. Have I shown a bias between people?
m. Am I prone to jealously? Am I not in talking terms with someone or do I avoid people?
n. Am I prone to anger?
o. Do I use profane language?
p. Do I hold a grudge against anyone? Is there anyone, I need to forgive?
q. Have I subjected my body to alcohol, smoking, drugs, excessive work, excessive sleep
deprivation, excessive diet, etc.? (Proverbs 23:29-35)
r. Have I destroyed public property?
s. Have I neglected/ avoided people who needed or deserved my help?
t. Have I resorted to revengeful behaviour?
u. Have I had fun at the expense of others? Have I hurt/ deceived others?
v. Have I led others to sin?
w. Have I harmed anyone's life or health by drunk driving?

VI. You shall not commit adultery.

a. It is the glory of man that caused God to give the sixth commandment.
b. The human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 6:19)
c. Those who live according to the desires of the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8)
d. Carnal desires lead to death. (Romans 8:6)
e. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits, is outside the body but the fornicator sins
against the body itself. (1 Cor. 6 18)
 f. Have I ever committed rape?
g. Have I ever used my siblings for sexual gratification for any reason? (1 Cor 6:12-20) Have I
ever abused children, physically or sexually?
h. Have I kept my body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, clean and healthy?
i. Was I not enthusiastic to grow in holiness? (1 Peter 1:15,16)
j. Have I sinned with my eyes when looking at books, posters, movies, a glance, etc? Have
others stumbled /sinned because of me?
k. Have I used my ears to hear obscene music/talk/conversations?
l. Have I encouraged bad thoughts? Have I done enough to tame them? Do I take delight in
old sins?
m. Have I indulged in sex with animals?
n. Have I committed adultery before or after marriage?
o. Have I done/supported artificial family planning and sterilization?

VII. You shall not steal.

a. Have I resorted to any unfair practices in different stages of Life? e.g.: unfair practices during
exams as a student, misuse of time, resources and money, indulging in unfair practices and
incorrect weighing scales in my area of business, manipulation of prices and goods,
corruption, bribery, exaggerated rate of interest, etc.
b. Have I behaved rudely to my subordinates, children and/or acted in a manner that did not
respect their individuality? (1 Peter 5:2-4)
c. Have I ever been partial towards my siblings? (James 2:1-9)
d. Have I deliberately withheld paying someone?
e. have I treated and paid my workers fairly?
f. Have I taken over the property of someone?
g. Have I used others for my benefit/advantage?
h. Have I earned money through wrong means?

VIII. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
a. You did not lie to us but to God. (Acts 5:4)
b. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 12:22)
c. Your lie will fall on your own head (Daniel 13:55)
d. The wealth gained by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapour and a snare of death (Proverbs 21:6)
e. A lie is an ugly blot on a person; it is continually on the lips of the ignorant (Sirach 20:24).

IX. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.

● Have you looked at a woman /man with unholy eyes?

● Have I tainted the holiness of my body by pornography, homosexuality, masturbation, erotic
books, etc? (1 Cor 6:9-20)
● Have I aroused the feelings of another through my look, speech, action or gesture?
 ● Have I praised and given thanks for my emotions/ feelings and considered them as a gift from
God? Have I been careless in controlling my emotions? (Sirach 23:16, 9:19; Proverbs 7:10-27,
25:28)
● Have I caused others to sin by my speech, look, touch, words or behaviour? Have I been a bad
role model? (Matt. 5:27-30; 18:6-9; 1 Cor. 8:12-13)
● Have I ever been remorseful that I didn't get the life partner I wanted or desired?
● Have I been in relationship/s not approved by Catholic Church or not in the plan of God for me,
had illicit relationships, helped/urged others in their illicit relations? Have I ever wanted to have
for myself another person’s wife/husband?
● Have I tormented my body and mind by excessive grief, anxiety, fear, wilful abstinence from food
and neglect of health? (Sirach 30:21-25; 37:30-31)
● Have I indulged in sexual activities, while drunk?
● Have I performed my marital duties, keeping in mind another person’s husband/wife?
● Have I destroyed another person’s family life?
● Have I dressed immodestly?

X. You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods.

● Do I lie? Have I faked documents? Have I put forward false allegations against anyone?
● Have I acted against the truth?
● Have I let out the secrets of someone? Am I a hypocrite?
● Do I spread false stories? Have I been a cause for defaming someone?
● Have I changed the terms of my parents' documents /will? Have I cheated?
● Have I changed the boundary/boundary stones of any property?
● Have I broken promises?
● Have I defaulted loans deliberately? Have I assisted in theft?
● Have I not returned what I have found?
● Have I not been punctual in my work?
● Have I caused crop damage and property damage?
● Have I shown cruelty to animals?
● Have I hindered the sharing of water, road or electricity?
● Have I denied my siblings their rights? E.g.: Deny or obstruct access to road, drinking water,
electricity, etc? Have I charged unfair interest? Have I denied wages to employees? Have I
resorted to any of these actions? - Changing boundary stones, misappropriating property,
bearing false witness, betrayal, writing anonymous letter (Sirach 34:18-22; Proverbs 11:1,
20:11, 22:22-23, 23:10, 11; James 5:1-6; Exodus 21:18-19, 22:1-15; Leviticus 6:1-7)

More examination matters

● Have I disobeyed my elders and superiors?
● Have I fulfilled my duties towards the dead?
● Have I physically hurt my spouse?
● Have I mouthed foul language?
● Have I criticised my wife/husband and their family?
● Have I quarrelled with my wife and thrown her out of the house or sent her home?
● Have I at any point of time been suspicious of my life partner?
● Have I not met the physical needs of my spouse?
● Have I disobeyed my spouse?
● Have I punished my children harshly?
● Do I always criticize my children?
● Have I put my spouse or children down in front of others?
● Have I sexually assaulted my life partner?
● Have I failed to fulfil my marital duty?
● Have I been unfaithful to my spouse?
● Do I eavesdrop?
● Have I shown respect and obedience to my teachers?
● Have there been any instance of a lack of loyalty and love for the organization, I work for?
● Have I shown compassion to the mentally retarded, the mentally ill, the disabled, the dumb
and the deaf in my society?
● Have I disobeyed government laws?
● Have I resorted to evasion or fraud with respect to land tax, house tax, income tax, etc?
● Have I failed to fulfil the obligations to my children? Have I shared among them my assets,
impartially?
● Have I ever been happy with the failure of others?
● Have I ever denied the good to those who are entitled to it?
● Am I a gluttonous person??
● Do I indulge in binge eating?
● Have I shirked/avoided responsibility? (1 Timothy 5:8; Luke 12:41-48)
● Have I failed in accepting myself, the way I am? Do I indulge in tall talk/ self-praise? Have I felt
fed up / heated or despised myself that I thought it was better for me to die? Have I thought
about suicide? (Isaiah 43:14; 1 Peter 2:9-10; James 4:13-17)
● Have I wasted God-given time and opportunities, due to laziness? (Proverbs 26:13-17; 2 Thess.
3:11-12)
● Have I inflicted any hurt, insult or harm to my superiors? (Rom 13:1-7; Sirach 3:1-16)
● Have I performed the duties and responsibilities associated with my vocation? Have I been
faithful in my married life?
● Have I defamed anyone or hindered the growth of others through my speech or actions?
● Do I use flattery? (Proverbs 28:18-26; Psalm 12:1-3). Do I indulge in loose, meaningless talk?
Do I thirst for human favour?
● Have I denied the help that could have been done to the person who deserved it? (Proverbs
3:27, 28; James 2:1-4)
● Have I voiced my support to people when they were denied justice or their rights? Or did I join
with the majority against them?? Have I judged others? (Proverbs 31:3-7; Exodus 23:1-7)
● Have I failed in correcting the mistakes of my brothers? Do I justify my children's mistakes?
(Ezek. 3:17-21)
● Am I able to be genuinely happy in the growth of my brothers? Or, am I someone, who gets
unhappy upon seeing their growth? (Genesis 4:1-7, Proverbs 24:17-18; Matthew 20:1-16)
● Am I secretly happy in witnessing the pain of my brothers?
● Do I covet other person's assets? (Money, house, property)
CARDINAL SINS
1. Pride
2. Envy
3. Wrath
4. Gluttony
5. Lust
6. Sloth
7. Greed

Sins against the Holy Spirit

1. Despairing of Salvation (when a person loses hope of salvation).
2. Presumption of Salvation. (Illusory hope of attaining salvation by self).
3. Denying a truth recognised.
4. Envying the grace that God gives to other people.
5. Obstinacy in sin. (Continuance in sin even after receiving light and help of Holy Spirit)
6. Final impenitence (Dying in sin without repenting even at the end).

Sins that cry out for vengeance before God

1. Wilful murder
2. The sin of sodomy, homosexuality
3. Oppression of the poor, orphans and widows
4. Defrauding labourers of their wages.

Pride
Antidote: Pride is conquered by attitudes and acts of humility.
● Do I have a “better-than-you” attitude in thinking, or speaking or acting?
Group arrogance can be a problem, too.
● Do you have an offensive “We’re marvellous. They’re morons” group attitude based on your
school? Profession? Nationality? Political party or faction?
● Am I offensive to others, OR too easily take offense, myself?
● Do I demand recognition? Do I desire to be always first?
● Do I scorn advice? Think very little of others’ point of view?
● Am I in any sense a "bully"? Do I intimidate people verbally, or physically?
● Am I prone to belittle --- or to be too critical of ---persons, or places, or things?
● Do I seek to place the blame on others, excusing myself?
● Do I ridicule others?
● Is there anyone to whom I refuse to speak?
● Am I prone to argue? Do I have a superior, "know-it-all" attitude in arguments?
Or a “holier-than-thou” attitude in religious observance?
● Am I always serving myself? Advertising myself? Promoting myself?
● Do I crave the attention of rich, popular, or successful people?
● Do I avoid contact with poorer, less-attractive, less-popular people?
● Do I think myself “too good” to participate in a Church with sinful human members?
Am I super-sensitive? Am I easily wounded?
Wrath/Anger
Antidote: Anger is conquered by the cultivation of a habit of loving patience.
“Anger is an emotion of the soul, which leads us violently to repel whatever hurts or
displeases us…This emotion, my children, comes from the Devil: it shows that we are in
his hands: that he is the master of our heart: that he holds all the strings of it, and
makes us dance as he pleases.”
Saint John Vianney
● Does practically any little thing arouse my temper?
● Am I "a sore-head"? Do I have “a short fuse”?
● Do I have a long memory of insult or injury, refusing to let it go?
● Do I strive to get along well with difficult people?
● Do I fume over slights/ insult and even presume them when possibly none was intended?
● Do I rejoice at the misfortunes of others?
● Do I think of "getting even"?
● Am I of an argumentative disposition?
● Am I given to ridicule of persons, places, or things?
● Am I hard to get along with? Do I get sarcastic when I’m annoyed?
● Do I blow up at my spouse? Parents? Children? Subordinates?
Does my language or behavior tend to get way out of line when I’m mad?
● Do I carry grudges, remain "on the outs" with anyone?
● Do I talk about the faults or defects of others?
● Have I failed to help my spouse or children curb their anger?
● Do I associate with people, movements (including political), or media which arouse or
magnify anger or resentment of others?

Lust
Antidote: Lust is conquered by pure love, pure friendship, and a desire always to honor God with our
bodies.
“Lust is the love of the pleasures that are contrary to purity.”
Saint John Vianney.
● Have I engaged in any act --- outside of marriage --- intended to cause sexual arousal or sexual
gratification? By myself, or with somebody else?
● Have I deliberately--- outside of marriage --- entertained thoughts and fantasies, intended to
excite my sexual appetite?
● Have I used any form of pornography?
● Have I engaged in any act (including within marriage) which was deliberately degrading, un-loving,
perverted, or intentionally closed-off to the transmission of life?
● Have I failed to teach my children the importance of chastity?
● Have I neglected to seek out, learn more about, and value, the Catholic Church’s teachings on the
Sacramentality and Sanctity of marital sexual union?

Envy
Antidote: Envy is conquered by thoughts, words, and acts of brotherly love, and a deliberate cultivation
of contentment with one’s life, however modest.
“Envy is a sadness which we feel, on account of the good that happens to our neighbor.”
Saint John Vianney.
● Do I feel sad at the prosperity of others? Irritated at their success? In games? In athletics? In
income? In popularity? In reputation?
● Do I rejoice at their failures?
● Do I envy the riches of others? Their home or property? Their vacations? Their ease?
● Am I jealous of other people’s relationships: their popularity with the opposite sex?
Their marital success? Their family and friends? Their professional advancement?
● Am I secretly --- or openly --- pleased when somebody else “gets taken down a peg”?
● Am I a good example to others (especially my children, students, subordinates, co- workers) in
showing pleasure at others’ success and advancement?
● Do I express resentment for whole classes of people? Women? Men? “The shiftless poor” or “the
rotten rich”?
Gluttony
Antidote: Gluttony is conquered by pursuit of a healthy relationship with food and drink; by moderation,
and, in some cases, by abstinence.
“Gluttony is a disordered love of eating and drinking.”
Saint John Vianney.

“By excess many have perished: but he that is temperate shall prolong life.”
Ecclesiastes 37:34
● Do I eat to live or live to eat? Do I eat unhealthy things, or to an unhealthy extent?
● Am I overly demanding and “particular” about food, accepting only the finest, or most exacting
ingredients or preparation?
● Am I ill-tempered if I miss a meal, or rude if the food I am given does not please me?
● Do I drink to excess? Do I get drunk? Do I commit other sins while drunk?
● Do I drink and drive?
● Do I misuse prescription drugs? Do I use illegal drugs?
● Have I become addicted to or dependent on any mood-altering substance?
● Have I endangered my health, my job, my marriage or my family with bad eating or drinking
habits?
● Do I neglect religious fasts because of my lack of control over my appetite?

Greed
Antidote: Greed is conquered by generous, cheerful giving.
“Covetousness is an disordered love of the goods of this world.”
Saint John Vianney.
“Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary nor riches: give me only the
necessaries of life: Lest perhaps being filled, I should be tempted to deny, and say: Who is the Lord? Or
lest being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and foreswear the name of my God.”
Proverbs 30:8-9:
● Do I regard money and the things of this world as resources which I use to the glory of God? Or
do I think exclusively of my own advantage?
● Do I acquire money and property reasonably or inordinately?
 ● Do I do questionable things (things I wouldn’t want people to know about) for money?
● Do I pursue luxuries while others (especially those for whom I am responsible) lack necessities?
● Do I discharge my duties in justice to my fellow man?
● Am I charitable toward the less fortunate? Especially those struggling with calamities, disasters,
disabilities and hardships?
● Do I discharge my duties in justice to the Church? Do I give to my parish and my diocese,
and to concerns recommended by my Faith?

Sloth
Antidote: Sloth is conquered by diligence and fervor in the ordinary duties of our state in life, and in the
challenges to which God calls us.
● Have I an inordinate love of rest or entertainment, neglecting my duties?
● Do I act lazily? Am I too fond of laying about? Do I waste a lot of time on TV or the Internet?
● Do I feel the ordinary duties of life are not worth my best time and effort?
● Do I delay chores repeatedly, or do them in a sloppy, slack, or minimal way?
● Do I gripe about my work, complain about things that cost me real effort and exertion?
● Do I make poor use of the time God has given me? Wasting hours, weeks, years?
● Do I slack off in idle conversation? Worthless reading material? Stupid amusements?
● Do I neglect tasks I should do for my husband, wife, or children?
● Do I fail to direct, correct, or discipline people under my authority (children, students,
subordinates) because it’s too much of a hassle?
● Do I let things deteriorate around me, because reversing the trend would be difficult?
● Do I neglect the needs of my aged, sick or disabled parents?
● Do I tend to avoid needy friends?
● Do I fail to carry out tasks I have promised to do for my parish or for charitable groups?
● Am I fervent in the service of God?
My friends, God is delighted by your intention to confess your sins! He is so eager to get you back!

Act of Contrition
O my God,
I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
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 Thee, my God,
Who are all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance,
and to amend my life.
Amen.

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