Examination of Conscience
Seven Deadly Sins
Pride
“Pride is an untrue opinion of ourselves, an untrue idea of what we are not.”, Saint John Vianney.
Proverbs 16:5 “Every proud man is an abomination to the Lord:”
Ecclesiasticus 10:15: “Pride is the beginning of all sin.”
Thus Pride is conquered by humility.
Have I a superior attitude in thinking, or speaking or acting? Am I snobbish?
Have I offensive, haughty ways of acting or carrying myself?
Do I hold myself above others? Do I demand recognition?
Do I desire to be always first? Do I seek advice?
Am I ready to accept advice? Am I in any sense a "bully"?
Am I inclined to be "bossy"?
Am I prone to belittle persons, or places, or things?
Am I prone to be critical of persons, places, things?
Do I speak ill of others?
Have I lied about others?
Do I make known the faults of others?
Am I ready to speak about the faults of others? Do I find fault easily?
Do I seek to place the blame on others, excusing myself?
Am I quick to see the faults of others? Do I ridicule others?
Is there anyone to whom I refuse to speak? Is there anyone to whom I have not spoken for a long time?
Am I prone to argue? Am I positive and offensive in my arguments? Have I a superior, "a know-it-all attitude" in arguments?
Am I self-conscious?
Does human respect enter into my daily life?
Am I sensitive? Am I easily wounded?
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Envy
“Envy is a sadness which we feel, on account of the good that happens to our neighbor.”, Saint John Vianney.
Wisdom 2:24-25: “By the envy of the devil, death came into the world: and they follow him that are on his side.”
Envy is conquered by brotherly love.
Do I feel sad at the prosperity of others? At their success in games? In athletics?
Do I rejoice at their failures?
Do I envy the riches of others?
Father Faber gives the following rules for the practice of fraternal charity:
1. Often reflect on some good point in each of your brethren.
2. Reflect on the opposite faults in yourself.
3. Do this most in the case of those whom you are most inclined to criticize.
4. Never claim rights, or even let ourselves feel that we have them, as this spirit is most fatal to obedience and charity.
5. Charitable thoughts are the only security for charitable deeds and words. They save us from surprises, especially from surprises of temper.
6. Never have an aversion for another, much less manifest it.
7. Avoid particular friendships.
8. Never judge another. Always, if possible, excuse the faults we see, and if we cannot excuse the action, excuse the intention. We cannot all think alike, and we should, therefore, avoid attributing bad motives to others.
Sloth
“Sloth is a kind of cowardice and disgust, which makes us neglect and omit our duties, rather than do violence to discipline ourselves.”, Saint John Vianney, “We will not discipline ourselves; we will not put ourselves to any inconvenience. Everything makes us tired, everything revolts the slothful person. ... 0 my children! how miserable we are in losing, in this way, the time that we might so usefully employ in gaining heaven, in preparing ourselves for eternity!”
“Since base slothful spirits given over to external pleasures are neither used to combat nor trained in spiritual arms, they rarely preserve charity and usually let themselves suffer a mortal blow. This happens more easily because by venial sin the soul has been prepared for mortal sin.”, Saint Francis de Sales.
Ecclesiasticus 33:29: “For idleness has taught much evil.”
Sloth is conquered by diligence and fervour in the service of God.
Have I an inordinate love of rest, neglecting my duties?
Do I act lazily?
Am I too fond of rest?
Do I take lazy positions in answering prayers? Do I kneel in a lounging way?
Do I delight in idle conversation?
Am I fervent in the service of God?
There are three ways of being idle: doing nothing whatever; doing evil; doing other things than the duties of our position in life and its office require, or if this work is done without a good intention, or not from the love of God. Goffine, The Church’s Year Instruction for Septuagesima Sunday.
Three-quarters of those who are Christians labor for nothing but to satisfy the body, which will soon be buried and corrupted, while they do not give a thought to their poor soul, which must be happy or miserable for all eternity. They have neither sense nor reason: it makes one tremble. … Good Christians, who labor to save their souls and to work out their salvation, are always happy and contented; they enjoy beforehand the happiness of heaven: they will be happy for all eternity. Saint John Vianney.
Particular Examen By James F. McElhone, C.S.C. 1952 Page 125: Too many people are satisfied with mediocrity.
"No time must be lost, but every moment must be employed in prayer, in reading or in performing the duties of your state of life.", Saint Alphonsus.
"Nothing is so precious as time; and yet it is so little valued? Men will spend hours in jesting, or standing at the window or in the middle of the road, to see what passes; and if you ask them what they are doing, they will tell you they are passing away the time. O time, now so much despised! you will be of all things the most valued by such persons when death will have surprised them What will they not be willing to give for one hour of so much lost time! But time will no longer be available to them, when it is said to each of them: 'Go forth, Christian soul, out of this world:' hurry to be gone, for now there is no more time for you. How they will holler, sadly Alas! I have wasted my whole life; during so many years I might have become a saint; but how far I am from being one; and shall I become one now, now that there is no more time for me! But to what purpose will such lamentations be, when the dying man is on the verge of that moment on which eternity depends?", Saint Alphonsus.
Lust
“Lust is the love of the pleasures that are contrary to purity.”, Saint John Vianney.
I Corinthians 15:33: “Be not led astray, evil communications corrupt good manners.”Please see the Sixth and Ninth Commandments.
Lust is conquered by chastity.
Covetousness
“Covetousness is an disordered love of the goods of this world.”, Saint John Vianney.
Proverbs 30:8-9: Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary or riches: give me only the necessaries of life: Lest perhaps being filled, I should tempted to deny, and say: Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and foreswear the name of my God.
Covetousness is conquered by liberality.
Do I dispose of my money properly or selfishly?
Do I discharge my duties in justice to my fellow man?
Do I discharge my duties in justice to the Church?
Gluttony
“Gluttony is a disordered love of eating and drinking.”, Saint John Vianney.
Ecclesiasticus 37:34: “By excess many have perished: but he that is temperate, shall prolong life.”
Ecclesiasticus 31:23: “Watching and diseases are with the intemperate man.”
Gluttony is conquered by abstinence.
Do I eat to live or live to eat?
Do I drink to excess? Do I get drunk?
Do I misuse prescription drugs?
Do I use illegal drugs?
Have I allowed myself to become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs?
Anger
“Anger is an emotion of the soul, which leads us violently to repel whatever hurts or displeases us.”, Saint John Vianney “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
Ecclesiasticus 27:33: “Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man shall be subject to them.”
Matthew 5:22: “But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgement. ... And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Anger is conquered by patience.
Am I prone to anger?
Does practically any little thing arouse me to temper?
Am I what is generally termed "a sore-head"? Do I repress the first signs of anger? Do I strive to get along well with everybody? Do I ponder over slights or injuries and even presume them?
Do I rejoice at the misfortunes of others? Do I think of means of revenge? Of "getting even"?
Am I of an argumentative disposition? Have I a spirit of contradiction?
Am I given to ridicule of persons, places, or things?
Am I hard to get along with?
Do I carry grudges, remain "on the outs" with anyone?
Do I talk about the faults of others?
Do I reveal the faults or defects of others?
Do I reveal the faults of others from the wrong motive?
For we know him that hath said: Vengeance belongeth to me, and I will repay. (Hebrews 10:30)
When we seek revenge upon another, we are declaring by our actions that we are god. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5) Jesus tells us not only to love our friends, but also our enemies. We are supposed to love everyone and do good to them and wish them well. Some of us have a desire to get even. You can’t do that to ME. And yet let us consider that we have wronged many and think little of it.
And anger can take many forms. Some may throw fits even to the level of the mortal sin of destruction of property. Others refuse to salute their enemy or to help them in any way, when Jesus tells us to do the opposite. Some agitate all around them against their current enemy, by telling the evil their enemy has done to them. This is the sin of detraction, and if the story is embellished or even not true, then this is the sin of calumny. Detraction is to reveal the faults of another, whereas calumny is to attribute faults to another that he does not possess. Both are sins against the Eighth Commandment. A person’s right to his good name remains, even if this is undeserved.
The only time we may reveal the faults of another are:
1.To tell his superior. For instance if we see a child misbehaving, we must inform his parents.
To tell his superior. For instance if we see a child misbehaving, we must inform his parents.2.To warn someone of a clear and present danger. If we know that a man indulges in lust with every woman he dates and we know someone who is contemplating dating him, then we must warn her of the danger to her virtue. The same is true of a person who is in the habit of stealing from his employer; we must warn his prospective employer.
To warn someone of a clear and present danger. If we know that a man indulges in lust with every woman he dates and we know someone who is contemplating dating him, then we must warn her of the danger to her virtue. The same is true of a person who is in the habit of stealing from his employer; we must warn his prospective employer. PRAYER: O Lord, help me to remember my sins, so that I can be sorry for them and root out their cause and resolve to sin no more. Amen.
