How to do an examination of conscience
Let's face it: most of us Catholics don't go to confession as often as we should, or maybe even as often as we want. It's not just that the Sacrament of Confession is usually only offered for about an hour on Saturday afternoons. The sad truth is that many of us defer to confession because we don't really feel prepared to receive the sacrament.
That annoying sense of doubt that we're prepared can be a good thing if it convinces us to try and make a better Confession. One element to making a better Confession is to take a few minutes to make an examination of conscience before entering the confessional. With a little effort - perhaps ten minutes total for a thorough examination of conscience - you can make your next confession more fruitful and perhaps even start wanting to go to confession more often.
Start with a prayer to the Holy Spirit
Before diving into the heart of the examination of conscience, it is always a good idea to invoke the Holy Spirit as our guide in these matters. A quick prayer like Come, Holy Spirit or a little longer like the Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is a good way to ask the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and remind us of our sins so that we can fulfill a full , complete and contrite Confession.
A confession is full if we tell the priest all our sins; it is complete if we include the number of times we have committed each sin and the circumstances in which we have committed it, and it is contrite if we feel real pain for all our sins. The purpose of an examination of conscience is to help us remember every sin and how often we have committed it since our last Confession and to awaken the pain in us for having offended God with our sins.
Review the ten commandments
Each examination of conscience should include some considerations on each of the Ten Commandments. While at first glance, it may not appear that some of the commandments apply, each of them has a deeper meaning. A good discussion of the Ten Commandments helps us to see how, for example, watching immodest material on the Internet is a violation of the Sixth Commandment or being excessively angry with someone who violates the Fifth Commandment.
The United States Bishops' Conference has a short downloadable ten commandment-based conscience exam that provides questions to guide your review of each commandment.
Review the precepts of the Church
The Ten Commandments are the basic principles of a moral life, but as Christians, we are called to do more. The five commandments, or precepts, of the Catholic Church represent the bare minimum we must do to grow in love for both God and neighbor. While sins against the Ten Commandments tend to be sins of commission (in the words of the Confiteor we say near the beginning of Mass, "in what I have done"), sins against the precepts of the Church tend to be sins of omission ( "In what I could not do").
Consider the seven deadly sins
Thinking about the seven deadly sins - pride, covetousness (also known as greed or greed), lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth - is another good way to approach the moral principles contained in the Ten Commandments. As you consider each of the seven deadly sins, think about the cascading effect that particular sin could have on your life - for example, how gluttony or greed may prevent you from being as generous as you should be for others less fortunate than you.
Consider your station in life
Each person has different duties depending on his position in life. A child has less responsibility than an adult; single and married people have different responsibilities and different moral challenges.
When you consider your position in life, you start to see both the sins of omission and the sins of commission that arise from your particular circumstances. The United States Bishops' Conference offers special conscience tests for children, young adults, singles and married people.
Meditate on the Beatitudes
If you have time, a good way to end the examination of conscience is to meditate on the Eight Beatitudes. The Beatitudes represent the summit of the Christian life; thinking about the ways in which we are unable to each of them can help us to see more clearly those sins that prevent us from growing in love for God and neighbor.
It ends with the act of contrition
After completing the examination of conscience and mentally writing down (or even printing out) your sins, it is a good idea to do an act of contrition before going to Confession. While you will be doing an act of contrition as part of the Confession itself, creating one in advance is a good way to arouse pain for your sins and to resolve full, complete and contrite confession.
Don't feel overwhelmed
It may seem that there is much to be done to do a thorough examination of consciousness. While it is good to go through each of these steps as often as possible, sometimes you simply don't have time to do them all before going to confession. It is fine if, say, you consider the Ten Commandments before your next Confession and the precepts of the Church before the next. Don't skip confession just because you haven't completed all the steps listed above; it is better to take part in the sacrament than to go to confession.
As you conduct an examination of conscience, in whole or in part, more often, however, you will find that Confession becomes easier. You will begin to focus on the particular sins you fall into most often and you can ask your confessor for suggestions on how to avoid those sins. And this, of course, is the central point of the Sacrament of Confession: to be reconciled with God and receive the grace necessary to live a more fully Christian life.