Examination of Conscience: The Seven Deadly Sins

A framework for patterns

Catechism 1866 names pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia as capital vices. “Capital” points to their role as sources of other sins. It does not mean that every action associated with a heading automatically fulfills the conditions for mortal sin.

Begin with the pattern you recognize most readily, then review the rest calmly. Ask what happened in a specific situation and how you responded. A label such as “pride” becomes useful when it helps you tell the truth about a concrete action.

Pride, greed, and envy

Notice the ways you have sought importance, possessions, or advantage at another person’s expense.

• Pride: Have I lied to preserve my image, refused a just correction, or humiliated someone to appear superior?
• Greed: Have I pursued profit through dishonesty, withheld what I owed, or treated a person’s need as an opportunity to exploit?
• Envy: Have I resented another person’s gifts so much that I undermined them, spread criticism, or hoped for their failure?

Wrath and lust

Consider what you have deliberately welcomed, encouraged, or acted upon. Feelings and temptations need to be distinguished from consent.

• Wrath: Have I chosen revenge, threatened someone, nursed plans to hurt them, or used anger as permission to be cruel?
• Lust: Have I deliberately sought sexual gratification in ways contrary to chastity, used pornography, or treated another person’s body as something available for my use?
• When a strong feeling arose, did I choose a harmful response I could have resisted, or was I facing a limitation that needs honest discussion and help?

Gluttony and sloth

Examine freedom and responsibility with care. A medical condition, disability, depression, exhaustion, or disordered eating requires appropriate support; the label of a vice is not a diagnosis.

• Gluttony: Have I knowingly pursued consumption in a way that harmed others, neglected a duty, or treated excess as more important than responsible care?
• Sloth or acedia: Have I deliberately refused a good that was reasonably mine to do because I did not want the demands of love or faith?
• Have I called necessary rest laziness, or called avoidable neglect rest? What actually happened in the situation I am considering?

Choose a virtue and a practical action

For pride, practice receiving correction without a speech in your own defense. For greed, make the payment or return the property you owe. For envy, acknowledge another person’s good work. For wrath, interrupt the harmful response and seek help with a recurring pattern.

For lust, remove a chosen occasion of sin and ask for appropriate accountability. For gluttony, pursue responsible care and seek professional advice when health is involved. For sloth, begin a neglected duty in a manageable way. These are examples for reflection; adapt them to your real obligations.

Bring actions to confession

Tell the priest what you chose and the pattern you notice. You do not need to recite all seven headings. One action may fit several of them; describe it honestly without inflating the count.

A purpose of amendment includes willingness to take the next reasonable step. If the same difficulty keeps recurring, ask what practical or pastoral support is needed. Growth in virtue usually becomes visible through repeated ordinary choices.