Another observation that I would make is that while we often say that we can confess our sins directly to God, on a practical level, most of us don’t, at least not all of our sins. Oh, we might confess a few obvious things, but we are not likely to examine our conscience and enumerate some chronic failings, especially if they don’t seem as egregious as some other things. This is precisely what the evil one wants. By having to humbly express these to a priest of Christ’s Church, not only do we receive an assurance that our sings are forgiven, but we are tasked with having to own up to many things that we would otherwise gloss over or just plain overlook. Then the priest assigns a penance, something that also allows us to glorify God and express contrition.
