How to Prepare for Confession

Examination of Conscience

- Fr Joshi V.C

The Ten Commandments

   1. I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me.

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

   3. Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy.

   4. Honour you father and your 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 neighbors.

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

  10. You shall not covet your neighbours’s goods.

The Six Chief Commandments of the Church.

   1. To keep Sundays and Holy days of obligation Holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile works.

   2. To keep the days of Fasting and Abstinence appointed by the church.

   3. To go to confession at least once a year.

   4. To receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year at Easter or thereabouts.

   5. To contribute to the support of pastors.

   6. Not to marry within certain degrees o kindred, not to solemnize marriage at the forsaken time.

Please examine your conscience in the light of the above and read these areas which clarify this better. Also please read the relevant Word of God stated after each point. This is written to enable you prepare yourself for a good confession.

   1. Have I given the first place in my heart and life to God or anything else e.g. persons, organizations, ideals, power or position, wealth, beauty, health, children, wife, husband parents etc.?

 NRS 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; 16 for all that is in the world-- the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches-- comes not from the Father but from the world.

NRS Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

NRS James 4:4 Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

   2. Doubting God’s eternal protection and Love have you gone behind black magic, occult sorcery etc or encourage others to go for these?

NRS Deuteronomy 11:13 If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today-- loving the LORD your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul-- 14 then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; 15 and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. 16 Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them, 17 for then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain and the land will yield no fruit; then you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.

NRS Deuteronomy 13:1 If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents, 2 and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, "Let us follow other gods" (whom you have not known) "and let us serve them,"

NRS Leviticus 20:6 If any turn to mediums and wizards, prostituting themselves to them, I will set my face against them, and will cut them off from the people. 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the LORD; I sanctify you.

   3. Have you worn or preserved magic bands, girdles or likewise or encouraged others to do so?

NRS Isaiah 13:17 See, I am stirring up the Medes against them, who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold. 18 Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations; Arabs will not pitch their tents there, shepherds will not make their flocks lie down there. 21 But wild animals will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will live, and there goat-demons will dance.

   4. Have you put more faith in the creatures rather than the creator by observing rahu, palmistry, astrology, new moon, full moon days etc.

NRS Galatians 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. 9 Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again? 10 You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. 11 I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

   5. Have you depended on false prophets who prophesy with vain hopes and visions of their minds without trusting God or have you encouraged others to do so?

NRS Jeremiah 23:16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they are deluding you. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

NRS Jeremiah 23:25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, "I have dreamed, I have dreamed!" 26 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back-- those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? 27 They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the LORD.

   6. Have you given more importance to saints and feared them more than God? Have you thought or spoken disrespectfully about them?

NRS Deuteronomy 5:6 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 7 you shall have no other gods before me. 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, 10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

   7. Have you neglected your duties in maintaining the house of the Lord and its surroundings?

NRS Haggai 1:2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD's house. 3 Then the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: 4 Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes. 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. 9 You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the soil produces, on human beings and animals, and on all their labors.

NRS John 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."

   8. Have you been irresponsive to the church or its ministry by not offering financial support or tithes?

NRS Malachi 3:8 Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, "How are we robbing you?" In your tithes and offerings! 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me-- the whole nation of you! 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11 I will rebuke the locust for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the LORD of hosts. 12 Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.

   9. Have you insulted or spoken disreputably about the Ministers of the Lord (Bishops, Priests, Nuns, Altar Boys or the religious)? Have you worked against them or manhandled them?

NRS Psalm 105:14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 15 saying, "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."

NRS Sirach 7:29 With all your soul fear the Lord, and revere his priests. NRS Sirach 7:31 Fear the Lord and honor the priest, and give him his portion, as you have been commanded: the first fruits, the guilt offering, the gift of the shoulders, the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first fruits of the holy things.

  10. Have you tried to seek favours of men more than God? To please men have you acted disregarding God?

NRS Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

  11. Have you scorn falsely in the name of the Lord or the Bible or made others to do so? Have you taken the name of the Lord in vain?

NRS Sirach 23:9 Do not accustom your mouth to oaths, nor habitually utter the name of the Holy One; 10 for as a servant who is constantly under scrutiny will not lack bruises, so also the person who always swears and utters the Name will never be cleansed from sin. 11 The one who swears many oaths is full of iniquity, and the scourge will not leave his house. If he swears in error, his sin remains on him, and if he disregards it, he sins doubly; if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified, for his house will be filled with calamities.

  12. All vows are for the glory of God. Have you intentionally kept away from fulfilling such vows? Are you in the habit of making vows frequently?

NRS Sirach 18:22 Let nothing hinder you from paying a vow promptly, and do not wait until death to be released from it. 23 Before making a vow, prepare yourself; do not be like one who puts the Lord to the test.

NRS Sirach 23:11 The one who swears many oaths is full of iniquity, and the scourge will not leave his house. If he swears in error, his sin remains on him, and if he disregards it, he sins doubly; if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified, for his house will be filled with calamities. 12 There is a manner of speaking comparable to death; may it never be found in the inheritance of Jacob! Such conduct will be far from the godly, and they will not wallow in sins.

NRS Exodus 35:21 And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the LORD's offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments.

NRS Deuteronomy 23:21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not postpone fulfilling it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and you would incur guilt. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not incur guilt. 23 Whatever your lips utter you must diligently perform, just as you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

  13. Have you received the Holy Sacrament without preparation, unworthily or without faith?

NRS 1 Corinthians 11:27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. 30 For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

  14. Have you given credit to yourself for your talent, wealth and health forgetting the authority of God?

NRS Deuteronomy 8:17 Do not say to yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.

NRS James 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

  15. Have you observed the Sabbath day and the days of obligation? Have you willfully neglected participating in the Holy Mass or dressed or behaved improperly or stood in a manner so as to obstructs others observance of the Holy Mass, have you dishonoured Sabbath day by doing work or making others work or obstructed others from keeping it Holy? On such days have you devoted enough time to God or showed lack of enthusiasm?

NRS Deuteronomy 5:12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work-- you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

NRS Isaiah 58:13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; 14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

  16. How is your prayer life? Have you missed personal prayer or not participated in family prayer?

NRS Luke 21:34 "Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

  17. Have you deliberately neglected the community prayer in your parish or discouraged others participating in it?

NRS Hebrews 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!

  18. Have failed to thank God for the graces and blessings?

NRS 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

NRS Romans 10:9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

  19. Have you felt ashamed to witness Jesus in front of others?

NRS Luke 9:25 What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? 26 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

NRS Romans 10:9 because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

  20. Have you interacted, entertained (at home) or participated in the prayer meetings of those who misinterpret the word of God?

NRS 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. 26 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.

NRS 2 John 1:9 Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching; 11 for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person.

  21. Are you reading and learning the Bible everyday? Have you refrained from helping the propagation of the Bible or the works of  evangelization?

NRS 1 Corinthians 9:16 If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!

NRS Deuteronomy 6:6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

  22. Have you acted in disobedience to the will of God, after the same has been revealed to you, through the Word of God, authorities, parents wife, husband, children etc.?

NRS Luke 12:47 That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating.

NRS Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

  23. Have you ever destroyed your health by resorting to alcoholism, smoking, drugs, workholism and gluttony?

NRS Proverbs 23:29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30 Those who linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines. 31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32 At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things. 34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. 35 "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."

  24. Have you made your body unholy through sexual perversion, maturbation, homosexuality, pornographic pictures and books?

NRS 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers-- none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh." 17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

  25. Have you failed to thank God for your emotions, which are the gifts from God, have you shown carelessness in controlling your passions?

NRS Sirach 9:1 Do not be jealous of the wife of your bosom, or you will teach her an evil lesson to your own hurt. 2 Do not give yourself to a woman and let her trample down your strength. 3 Do not go near a loose woman, or you will fall into her snares. 4 Do not dally with a singing girl, or you will be caught by her tricks. 5 Do not look intently at a virgin, or you may stumble and incur penalties for her. 6 Do not give yourself to prostitutes, or you may lose your inheritance. 7 Do not look around in the streets of a city, or wander about in its deserted sections. 8 Turn away your eyes from a shapely woman, and do not gaze at beauty belonging to another; many have been seduced by a woman's beauty, and by it passion is kindled like a fire. 9 Never dine with another man's wife, or revel with her at wine; or your heart may turn aside to her, and in blood you may be plunged into destruction.

NRS Sirach 16:23 Such are the thoughts of one devoid of understanding; a senseless and misguided person thinks foolishly.

NRS Proverbs 7:10 Then a woman comes toward him, decked out like a prostitute, wily of heart. 11 She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; 12 now in the street, now in the squares, and at every corner she lies in wait. 13 She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him: 14 "I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; 15 so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you! 16 I have decked my couch with coverings, colored spreads of Egyptian linen; 17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with love. 19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. 20 He took a bag of money with him; he will not come home until full moon." 21 With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. 22 Right away he follows her, and goes like an ox to the slaughter, or bounds like a stag toward the trap 23 until an arrow pierces its entrails. He is like a bird rushing into a snare, not knowing that it will cost him his life. 24 And now, my children, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. 25 Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. 26 for many are those she has laid low, and numerous are her victims. 27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

NRS Proverbs 25:28 Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control.

  26. Have you tortured your body by extreme sorrow, anxiety, fear, deliberate avoidance of food etc?

NRS Sirach 30:21 Do not give yourself over to sorrow, and do not distress yourself deliberately. 22 A joyful heart is life itself, and rejoicing lengthens one's life span. 23 Indulge yourself and take comfort, and remove sorrow far from you, for sorrow has destroyed many, and no advantage ever comes from it. 24 Jealousy and anger shorten life, and anxiety brings on premature old age. 25 Those who are cheerful and merry at table will benefit from their food.

NRS Sirach 37:30 for overeating brings sickness, and gluttony leads to nausea. 31 Many have died of gluttony, but the one who guards against it prolongs his life.

  27. Have you shown lack of Zeal to grow in Holiness?

NRS 1 Peter 1:15 Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

  28. Have you neglected nurturing the talents and gifts given by God?

NRS 1 Timothy 1:14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

  29. Have you shirked your responsibilities?

NRS 1 Timothy 5:8 And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

NRS Luke 12:41 Peter said, "Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?" 42 And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. 47 That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

  30. Have you failed to accept yourself? Do you boast? Do you condemn yourself and long to die, have you thought of suicide?

NRS Isaiah 43:1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.

NRS 1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

NRS James 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money." 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

  31. Have you spent the time and opportunity given by God in idleness?

NRS Proverbs 26:13 The lazy person says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!" 14 As a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy person in bed. 15 The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth. 16 The lazy person is wiser in self-esteem than seven who can answer discreetly. 17 Like somebody who takes a passing dog by the ears is one who meddles in the quarrel of another.

NRS 2 Thessalonians 3:11 For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

  32. Have you grieved or insulted or troubled the authorities of your parents?

NRS Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4 for it is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, busy with this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is due them-- taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

NRS Sirach 3:1 Listen to me your father, O children; act accordingly, that you may be kept in safety. 2 For the Lord honors a father above his children, and he confirms a mother's right over her children. 3 Those who honor their father atone for sins, 4 and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure. 5 Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children, and when they pray they will be heard. 6 Those who respect their father will have long life, and those who honor their mother obey the Lord; 7 they will serve their parents as their masters. 8 Honor your father by word and deed, that his blessing may come upon you. 9 For a father's blessing strengthens the houses of the children, but a mother's curse uproots their foundations. 10 Do not glorify yourself by dishonoring your father, for your father's dishonor is no glory to you. 11 The glory of one's father is one's own glory, and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother. 12 My child, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives; 13 even if his mind fails, be patient with him; because you have all your faculties do not despise him. 14 For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, and will be credited to you against your sins; 15 in the day of your distress it will be remembered in your favor; like frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away. 16 Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer, and whoever angers a mother is cursed by the Lord.

  33. Have you fulfilled properly the obligations of your vocation, have you been unfaithful in your married life?

NRS 1 Corinthians 7:1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is well for a man not to touch a woman." 2 But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 This I say by way of concession, not of command. 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind. 8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. 9 But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion. 10 To the married I give this command-- not I but the Lord-- that the wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife. 12 To the rest I say-- I and not the Lord-- that if any believer has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called you. 16 Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.

NRS Malachi 2:13 And this you do as well: You cover the LORD's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor at your hand. 14 You ask, "Why does he not?" Because the LORD was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth. 16 For I hate divorce, says the LORD, the God of Israel, and covering one's garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless.

  34. Have you disgraced anybody through your speech or obstructed the spiritual growth of anybody? Have you obstructed anybody’s marriage?

NRS Sirach 9:4 Do not dally with a singing girl, or you will be caught by her tricks. 5 Do not look intently at a virgin, or you may stumble and incur penalties for her. 6 Do not give yourself to prostitutes, or you may lose your inheritance. 7 Do not look around in the streets of a city, or wander about in its deserted sections. 8 Turn away your eyes from a shapely woman, and do not gaze at beauty belonging to another; many have been seduced by a woman's beauty, and by it passion is kindled like a fire. 9 Never dine with another man's wife, or revel with her at wine; or your heart may turn aside to her, and in blood you may be plunged into destruction. 10 Do not abandon old friends, for new ones cannot equal them. A new friend is like new wine; when it has aged, you can drink it with pleasure. 11 Do not envy the success of sinners, for you do not know what their end will be like. 12 Do not delight in what pleases the ungodly; remember that they will not be held guiltless all their lives. 13 Keep far from those who have power to kill, and you will not be haunted by the fear of death. But if you approach them, make no misstep, or they may rob you of your life. Know that you are stepping among snares, and that you are walking on the city battlements. 14 As much as you can, aim to know your neighbors, and consult with the wise. 15 Let your conversation be with intelligent people, and let all your discussion be about the law of the Most High. 16 Let the righteous be your dinner companions, and let your glory be in the fear of the Lord.

  35. Have you flattered anybody?

NRS Sirach 28:18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue. 19 Happy is the one who is protected from it, who has not been exposed to its anger, who has not borne its yoke, and has not been bound with its fetters. 20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its fetters are fetters of bronze; 21 its death is an evil death, and Hades is preferable to it. 22 It has no power over the godly; they will not be burned in its flame. 23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power; it will burn among them and will not be put out. It will be sent out against them like a lion; like a leopard it will mangle them. 24 As you fence in your property with thorns, As you lock up your silver and gold, 25 so make balances and scales for your words. so make a door and a bolt for your mouth. 26 Take care not to err with your tongue, and fall victim to one lying in wait.

NRS Psalm 12:1  Help, O LORD, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind. 2 They utter lies to each other; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts,

  36. Have you failed helping and doing good to deserving people?

NRS Proverbs 3:28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"-- when you have it with you.

NRS James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

  37. Have you raised your voice or protested when Justice was refused to others or joined with majority and supported injustice?

NRS Proverbs 31:3 Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink; 5 or else they will drink and forget what has been decreed, and will pervert the rights of all the afflicted. 6 Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; 7 let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more.

NRS Exodus 23:1 You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2 You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; 3 nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit. 4 When you come upon your enemy's ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back. 5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free. 6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty.

  38. Have you accepted and given bribes thereby robbing others rights?

NRS Sirach 40:12 All bribery and injustice will be blotted out, but good faith will last forever.

NRS Deuteronomy 16:18 You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. 19 You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

  39. Have you refused the legal rights of your brothers? E.g refusal of drinking water, electricity, charging unreasonable interest, refused dues to workers, engaged in boundary disputes, illegal annexing of property, false witness, cheating, use of false balance weights, written anonymous letters?

NRS Sirach 11:22 The blessing of the Lord is the reward of the pious, and quickly God causes his blessing to flourish. 23 Do not say, "What do I need, and what further benefit can be mine?"

NRS Sirach 23:10 for as a servant who is constantly under scrutiny will not lack bruises, so also the person who always swears and utters the Name will never be cleansed from sin. 11 The one who swears many oaths is full of iniquity, and the scourge will not leave his house. If he swears in error, his sin remains on him, and if he disregards it, he sins doubly; if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified, for his house will be filled with calamities.

NRS Sirach 34:18 To whom does he look? And who is his support? 19 The eyes of the Lord are on those who love him, a mighty shield and strong support, a shelter from scorching wind and a shade from noonday sun, a guard against stumbling and a help against falling. 20 He lifts up the soul and makes the eyes sparkle; he gives health and life and blessing. 21 If one sacrifices ill-gotten goods, the offering is blemished; 22 the gifts of the lawless are not acceptable.

NRS James 5:1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

  40. Have you been the cause of death of anyone? Have you conducted abortion or encouraged or done it yourself?

NRS Proverbs 24:11 if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter; 12 if you say, "Look, we did not know this"-- does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay all according to their deeds?

NRS Genesis 9:5 For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life. 6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind. 7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply in it."

  41. Have you failed to correct others or justified the mistakes of others?

NRS Matthew 18:15 "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

  42. Have you become restless or failed to rejoice in the progress, well-being and growth of brothers?

NRS Genesis 4:1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."

NRS Proverbs 20:17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the mouth will be full of gravel. 18 Plans are established by taking advice; wage war by following wise guidance.

NRS Matthew 20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' 9 When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

  43. Have your looks, talks touch letter and behaviour led anybody to sin?

NRS Matthew 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

NRS Matthew 18:6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.

  44. Have you behaved in an ill-mannered way to your subordinates and children, or acted in a disrespectful way to injure their personality?

NRS 1 Peter 5:2 to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it-- not for sordid gain but eagerly. 3 Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.

  45. Have you been partial to your brother?

NRS James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? NRS James 2:9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

  46. Have you sexually abused anybody for your own lustful satisfaction?

NRS 1 Corinthians 6:12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, "The two shall be one flesh." 17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.