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Friday, June 17, 2011

A Boy Scout's Examination of Conscience

I've been thinking about the boy scouts a lot lately. For most examination of conscience forms I have found, they seem to include a bit for every kind of person (young kids, parents, senior citizens, etc.). However, I haven't really been able to find any that are geared toward young people, particularly young and teenage Catholic boys. So with that, I decided to try to make my own to help boy scouts everywhere make a better examination of conscience so they can make a good confession. I have tried to fit everything as best that I can into the context of the scout laws.

  • Trustworthy
    • Have I lied during Confession?
    • Have I broken the law?
    • Have I stolen any goods?
    • Do I pay off my debts within a timely manner?
    • Did I intentionally fail to honor any promises or contracts made?
    • Have I been a good example to others in living out the Catholic faith?
    • Did I fail to keep secret what should be confidential?
  • Loyal
    • Have I knowingly missed Mass on Sunday or any Holy Day of Obligation?
    • Have I joined another Christian denomination, practiced any non-Christian religions, or fallen away from the Church?
    • Have I engaged in anything Occult?
    • Have I joined any group forbidden for Catholics to join (such as the Freemasons or Communists)?
    • Have I put material goods first before God?
  • Helpful
    • Have I helped others to sin by scandal (or other means)?
    • Have done my part to use my time, talent, and treasure to further the good work of the Church?
  • Friendly
    • Did I intentionally lie to ruin a person's reputation?
    • Did I spread gossip or rumors about another person?
  • Courteous
    • Have I treated all members of the opposite sex with respect and not thought of them as sex objects?
    • Have I been prejudiced, or unjustly discriminated against others because of their race, color, nationality, sex or religion?
  • Kind
    • Have I knowingly belittled others with my words?
    • Have I ever wished evil on another person or wished that bad things would happen to a person
    • Have I unjustly inflicted bodily harm on another?
    • Have I intentionally abused another person either verbally or emotionally?
    • Did I blaspheme or insult God?
  • Obedient
    • Have I listened to the requests of my parents and ignored them?
    • Have I listened to the requests of those in authority other than my parents?
    • Have I kept fast and abstinence on the days required?
    • Did I do my Easter duty to receive Holy Communion at least once during the Easter Season?
  • Cheerful
    • Did I give in despair about my salvation or the forgiveness of my sin? 
    • Did I ever get angry at God?
  • Thrifty
    • Did I eat too much in 1 sitting?
    • Is food all that I think about?
    • Did I intentionally misuse resources allotted to me?
  • Brave
    • Did I deny that God does exist?
    • Have I failed to speak out and defend the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church?
    • Have I failed to speak out in the defense of another person?
  • Clean
    • Have I neglected personal hygiene?
    • Have I been looking at dirty pictures either in print or on the internet?
    • Have I looked at a pretty girl with lustful eyes?
    • Have I masturbated?
    • Have I used illegal drugs?
    • Have I dressed modestly?
  • Reverent
    • Have I remembered to leave sufficient time for prayer and to engage in daily prayer? 
    • Did I receive the Blessed Sacrament in a state of Mortal Sin?
    • Did I commit a sacrilege against the Blessed Sacrament?

With all this, there is probably some stuff that I forgot. If you can think of some more that I missed, be sure to let me know what they are and where they fit so that I can add them to this list (eventually, I plan to make this a sticky on the blog).

I'm curious to see what priests, religious, and laypeople alike, think of this version of an examination of conscience. I am open to any and all criticism. If you have anything to add to the list or have any comments on this list, please make them known via the comment box below or on Twitter (username is @rctechgeek).

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