My name is Simon.
Welcome! If you are visiting my page before reading my sister Veronica's page then it's best to read her page first. We are working together as a CK101 team! Veronica and I are looking forward to going through an "Examination of Conscience for Kids" with you but first we’d like to tell you a little bit more about ourselves.
You probably got the idea from Veronica’s picture that she likes winter. Well, you’re right. I do too but winter is her favorite time of year. She says to tell you it’s her favorite because it’s Christmas time. It's also her favorite because she loves to ski. She’s a really good skier and has won lots of trophies. She says she feels embarrassed that I told you about her trophies but I’m not going to erase it because I’m really proud of her. Her ability to be such a great skier is her gift from God. She’s okay with me saying it now since I explained that part.
My favorite time of year is the Fall. I really like the crisp feeling in the air during the Fall. I love the smell of Fall. I like to watch the trees turn the colors of Fall. I was born in the Fall. Can you guess what day is my birthday? I’ll give you a hint. My birthday is also the day the Church celebrates a great Solemnity. It is so special that it is a Holy day of Obligation. Can you guess it? It’s November 1st, All Saints Day!
Have you ever been to an All Saints Day Party? Everybody dresses up as their favorite Saint. There are fun games to play with prizes and there are lots of treats like cookies and candy to eat too. When I was little I thought that the All Saints Day Party was a party for me since it is my birthday! Now that I’m older I realize that I really wasn’t wrong to think that. Isn’t that what we are all hoping for? To be a Saint in Heaven someday with Jesus forever!
Now it’s time for me and my sister to go through an "Examination of Conscience for Kids" with you. This will help us know what is right and what is wrong. This will help us to form our conscience with the mind of the Church. This will help us to follow Jesus so we can show Him that we love Him!
You can click the button to download and print your very own copy. You can also read through it on my CK101 page below.
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
“I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me.”
To obey this first commandment you must always try to put God first. You must always try to remember to think about God and talk with Him in prayer every single day.
When you wake up, bless yourself first thing by making the Sign of the Cross. Offer to God all that you will think, say and do throughout you day. We do this for His glory. Ask for His blessing and protection.
You should always try to remember to pray before you eat. You want to thank God and ask His blessing on your food. Always try to pray with a thankful heart!
Throughout your day you can speak with God. In any situation you can talk with Him in your heart just like you would talk with your very best friend.
You can pray short prayers too. The more you do this, the easier it will become. It is a way to really help you think about God! Here are some prayers you can say: “Jesus, I trust in You.” “Thank You, Lord!” “Jesus.” “Father, I adore You.” “I praise You!” “I love You in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar.” These are all wonderful prayers. You can make up your own too.
It is always a good thing to pray before taking a test or doing homework. You can say: “Help me, Jesus.” “For Your glory, Lord.” “Come Holy Spirit!”
You can say a prayer for someone who is in need. “Bless them, Lord.” “Please help them, Jesus.”
All throughout the day there are many opportunities to pray.
You should try to always kneel down next to your bed each night and pray before going to sleep.
There are no exact words or an exact "right way” to pray throughout the day. But we must pray. The Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be prayers are “par excellence” (that means that they are prayers that are "the best of the best") and should be prayed often.
Praying to God each day is how we honor God’s first commandment by putting Him first.
If you decide not to think about God, not to pray to Him, not to ever thank Him, not to make Him any part of your day just because you don't care, then you would not be following the First Commandment. To do this would be a sin. If you do this, you would not be putting God first. He never forgets about you! You should never forget about Him.
Behaving badly during Mass, religion class or not doing religion or Bible study homework because you don't care would be a sin against the first commandment.
To become distracted or forgetful during prayer is not a sin! We should try and keep our mind and heart with Jesus whenever we are praying. If we are at Mass or praying the Rosary and our mind wanders, it is not a sin. We just need to try and bring our mind and heart gently back to God as soon as we remember. It's important to never give up.
Speak with Jesus as you would speak with your very best friend. Jesus wants to be your very best friend! He loves you so much. Always put Him first.
The First Commandment Summary:
I say my prayers each morning, before eating, throughout the day, and before sleeping. I praise and adore God. I put God first. This is how I keep God’s first Commandment!
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
“You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.”
To follow the second commandment you must speak with respect and love when we talk about God, things that have to do with God and about people and things that are holy.
You must always say the Holy Name of Jesus with respect and love. You may notice that some people bow their heads, often during Mass or while praying the Rosary, when the Holy Name of Jesus is spoken. This is a beautiful gesture of respect and love.
You must always speak of people and things that are holy with reverence such as Our Blessed Mother, the Holy Cross and all the Holy Angels and Saints.
Sometimes people are in a bad habit of saying the name of God without thinking about what they are saying. They may exclaim, “Oh, my Gxx!” whenever they are surprised. They aren’t saying God’s name as a prayer or with proper thought. If a person is in the habit of doing this, they need to try hard to break this habit. We must speak the name of God with intention, respect and love.
If a person speaks or yells God’s name in a fit of anger or rage, it is a serious sin. This sin is called cursing and it is very wrong to do this. If you ever hear someone curse in this way, speaking the Holy Name of Jesus when in a rage as an example, it can be very shocking to hear. Imagine how Jesus feels when He hears someone say His name in this way. It grieves His Heart. He still loves that person but it hurts Him. Imagine how hurt and offended you would feel if someone used your name in this way. Can you now imagine how offensive it is to God who is all holy? You can understand how wrong this is. If you ever hear the Holy Name of Jesus cursed, it would be a wonderful thing if you would immediately tell Jesus that you are sorry His Name was used in such a way. Then pray for the person who did this. You could also whisper “Jesus” with love. To do this is called reparation. You are “repairing” the damage caused by the serious sin of cursing Jesus' name.
If a person gets angry, picks up a pretty glass vase, throws it on the ground and it smashes into a 100 pieces, you could then see one of the effects of that burst of anger. A broken vase! However, the sin of cursing God's Holy Name does damage that we can’t actually see with our eyes. This kind of sin damages the mind and hardens the heart. This is a grave offense against God.
If an actor, a singer or a writer curses God's Holy Name in entertainment as heard in a movie, in a song or read in a book, it is still wrong. It is still a serious offense against God who is all holy.
Remember when out CK101 friend Anthony told us about the great Saint Anthony of Padua? We always want to speak about God and holy things in such a way that when Jesus looks at our tongue He will see our love and respect for Him. Just like Saint Anthony's tongue, He will see a lily!
The Second Commandment Summary:
I speak of God, the Saints and holy things with love, respect and reverence. I can pray for those who don’t. This is how I keep God’s second commandment!
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”
Our Sabbath day is Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead! Each Sunday is like a little Easter. Sunday is a holy day. Sunday is the Lord’s day. Sunday is a day of rest.
We go to Mass on Sunday. We also go to Mass on all holy days that the Church asks of us to show our love by worshipping God. We call these days “Holy Days of Obligation.”
To not go to Mass on Sunday or on a Holy Day of Obligation on purpose would be a serious sin.
It may be that you have an illness that is contagious or you are too sick to leave the house. Then it would not be a sin to miss Mass. You would be there if you weren’t sick.
What if you live in a place that has a big snow storm and no cars can drive? What if you live in a place that has lots of rain and it’s not safe to drive when the streets flood? Would it be a sin to miss Mass then? No. You and your family would drive to Church if you could. Jesus understands.
Any situation that comes up concerning a charitable duty like a mother taking care of a sick baby and missing Mass would never be a sin. Jesus knows the person would be there if they could.
If you forgot that it was a Holy Day of Obligation and you would have gone to Mass to worship God on that special day if only you had remembered, then missing Mass would not be a sin.
To not go to Mass on Sunday because you are playing in a sports game or watching a sports event would be a serious sin. A person who does this is not keeping the Sabbath holy. This person is not putting God first.
The Church uses the Latin word “vesper” which can be translated into English "at vespers" or “in the evening." That means, according to Church time, Sunday begins the evening before on Saturday evening. In a lot of places, especially in larger cities, there are many opportunities to go to Mass on Saturday evening. If you do this, you are following the third commandment and keeping God’s day holy by worshipping Him at Holy Mass. You are fulfilling your Sunday Mass obligation.
How do you behave at Mass? Remember, you are in God’s House. You must act with respect and reverence. You would never run, yell, chew gum, chatter or fight with your brother or sister, write on the hymnal, play games on the phone or text friends, bring food, soft drinks, candy or books that are not about Jesus into Church.
It is important to dress appropriately for Mass. You should be clean and modest in what you wear.
When you are at Mass, you must try your very best to concentrate on loving God with all your heart. You come to Mass to worship God. You come each week to offer your life to Him. You come to praise Him, thank Him and adore Him!
When you leave Mass, you want to try and keep this loving attitude for the rest of the day. You want to try and keep this attitude for the whole week! But especially on Sunday.
Sunday should not be just like all the other days of the week. It should be a day of rest and family time. Sunday is the Lord's Day. This is the day I can especially show and tell Jesus that I love Him!
The Third Commandment Summary:
I go to Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days of Obligation. I love God and worship Him with all my heart! Sunday is a day of rest and family time. This is how I keep God’s third commandment!
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
“Honor your father and your mother.”
God asks us to honor our parents in the fourth commandment. There are many ways to do this by loving, listening, obeying and praying for them.
God has given you your parents. They love you. They take care of you. They want you to love them, listen to them and obey them. They want this because it is the very best thing for you!
If you do not honor your parents then you are not honoring God.
It is not enough to say that you love your parents. You must show them your love by your actions.
You must obey your parents. If they ask you to do something, do it the first time they ask you. A child that disobeys, throws a tantrum, yells or sasses back to their parents is not following the fourth commandment. To do this would be a sin.
Under the fourth commandment you must also respect and obey any person that your parents have put in charge or authority over you such as a grandparent, a teacher or a babysitter. You must respect and obey them as you would your parents.
Under the fourth commandment you must also give particular respect to the elderly. If you see an old man or women, no matter how different looking they seem, always be polite and kind. Never laugh at them or be rude.
When examining your conscience, you will ask yourself if you have ever been disobedient or disrespectful in your talk or actions to your parents, teachers or any person your parents have put in charge over you.
The Fourth Commandment Summary:
I honor my father and mother by loving them, respecting them and obeying them. I also pray for my parents. I respect and obey my teacher and any other persons my parents
have entrusted me to. I am also kind to the elderly. This is how I follow God’s fourth commandment!
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
“You shall not kill.”
God tells us in the fifth commandment that we are not to kill another person. In most circumstances it would be a serious, mortal sin. It is always wrong to kill an innocent human being on purpose.
If someone is killed by accident, it would not be a sin.
The examples listed below show when God’s fifth commandment is broken in serious, deadly (mortal) sin ways and when it is not. Kids shouldn't have to worry if they have broken God's fifth commandment in any of these ways. However, we decided to put them here so you can begin to understand and learn the difference. It is good to start forming our conscience now, little by little, so as we grow up we will understand right from wrong more clearly!
After these examples, we will put ways now that kids need to know to make sure they are following God’s fifth commandment.
Here are the examples of when killing someone is a serious sin and when it is not.
If a person is driving properly, going the right speed limit and paying attention to the road, and then suddenly a kid runs into the street right in front of the car without looking and is killed by the driver because he couldn't stop the car in time, it would not be a sin for the driver. It would be an accident. It would be very sad but God's fifth commandment would not be broken.
However, if a person is at a party drinking too much alcohol, then they leave the party, get into their car and drive, hitting another car and killing that driver because they are drunk, then it would be a serious sin. It is a serious sin to get drunk and it is a serious sin to drive drunk. You are putting yourself and other people in danger because a drunk person is not in control of what they are doing. They are not able to think properly. It is a sin to drink so much that you loose your ability to reason clearly. This is also true if a person takes drugs they are not suppose to take. A person who does any of these things is breaking God's fifth commandment in a serious way.
If a doctor has a very sick patient and he gives them medicines to try and help them feel better and get better but the patient dies, it would not be sin. The doctor was trying to help the patient.
However, if a very sick patient didn’t want to live anymore and asks the doctor for a medicine that would kill them and the doctor gives it to them and the sick patient dies from taking that medicine, then both the patient and the doctor would be breaking God’s fifth commandment in a serious way. Doctors can help their very sick patients by giving them medicine to help take away their pain but they can never give them medicine to make them die on purpose. This is always wrong.
If an American soldier is guarding the White House in Washington, DC and a terrorist comes with a gun and starts shooting at people and the soldier takes out his own gun and shoots and kills the terrorist to stop him, it would not be a sin for the soldier. The soldier is using his gun to defend and protect innocent people. He is doing his job. However, it would be a serious sin against God's fifth commandment for the terrorist. He is using his gun to kill innocent people on purpose.
Finally, if a mother has a baby growing in her womb and she decides to have the baby removed before the baby is ready to be born because she doesn’t want the baby, this would be very sad. This is a serious sin. All those involved would be breaking God’s fifth commandment not to kill. Our mom told us that Jesus loves mothers and babies very much and He is sad when a mother does this. However, no sin is too big for Jesus! A mother who does this would need to be sorry and go to Confession and Jesus will forgive her through this Sacrament. She will have healing this way.
Now let’s look at situations that don’t involve actually killing a person but these things are wrong and fall under God's fifth commandment. These are things that all kids need to know.
We must not physically injure another person by hitting, beating, biting, scratching, cutting, pinching, burning or harming their body in any way on purpose. (You can physically defend yourself or another person if you are being assaulted like Marco explained on his CK101 page.)
We must never harm ourselves in any way on purpose. Of course, we must never take our own life. That's called "suicide" and it is a serious sin. A person who takes their own life may not be fully responsible, like if they have a mental illness, but it is something we must never do.
We must not say cruel things or bully others by taunting, threatening or making fun of them. This is true in person and also through social media like on our phones or computers.
We must not hold in our hearts hatred towards another person. We must not want terrible things to happen to someone because of what they did to us. This would not be following God’s fifth commandment. We must never say, "I hate you!" to anyone no matter what they do.
Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We may feel angry or hurt but we can make an act of the will, a decision, to forgive the person who hurt us. We can pray like this: “Jesus, what that person did was wrong and it hurt me a lot. I don’t like what they did but I choose to forgive them out of love for You. I don’t want this hurt to keep my heart angry, hard, closed and bitter. Please help me Jesus.” And Jesus will always help a person who prays this kind of prayer. He truly understands.
Another way we can break God’s fifth commandment is by trying to make another person do something wrong. If you talk your little sister into taking money from your mother’s purse and giving it to you without asking your mother’s permission first, this would be a sin. If you convince your friend to tell a lie for you so you won’t get into trouble, then you would not be following God's fifth commandment. Under this commandment you cannot harm another person by trying to make them do something wrong.
Finally, we must always be kind to our pets and small animals. We must never be cruel to them because we think it's funny.
The Fifth Commandment Summary:
We must never take innocent human life. I never hurt anyone by beating them up or bullying them. I never say cruel things or make fun of people. I never harm another person by trying to make them do something wrong. This is how I keep God’s fifth commandment!