FEATURE: How to get nearer to your God....

...WITHOUT PAYING MUCH TO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS.

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

Do I give God time every day in prayer?

Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?

Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?

Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the Church?

Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?

Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?

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

Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?

Have I been angry with God?

Have I wished evil upon another person?

Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

[3] Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?

Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?

Do I do needless work on Sunday?

[4] Honour your Father and your Mother.

Do I honour and obey my parents?

Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?

Have I given my family good religious example?

Do I try to bring peace into my home life?

Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?

[5] You shall not kill.

Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?

Have I physically harmed anyone?

have I abused alcohol or drugs?

Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?

Have I been angry or resentful?

Have I harbored hatred in my heart?

Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?

Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

[6] You shall not commit adultery.

Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?

Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?

Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control in my marriage?

Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?

Have I been guilty of masturbation?

Have I sought to control my thoughts?

Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?

Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?

Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?

Am I careful to dress modestly?

[7] You shall not steal.

Have I stolen what is not mine?

Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?

Do I waste time at work, school or at home?

Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?

Do I pay my debts promptly?

Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?

[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Have I lied?

Have I gossiped?

Have I spoken behind someone else's back?

Am I sincere in my dealings with others?

Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?

Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?

[9] You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.

Have I consented to impure thoughts?

Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations or curiosity?

Do I seek to control my imagination?

Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?

[10] You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.

Am I jealous of what other people have?

Do I envy the families or possessions of others?

Am I greedy or selfish?

Are material possessions the purpose of my life?

Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and spiritual needs?