Only God's forgiveness can heal my self-inflicted wounds of sin, but with His perfect love and mercy, the healing reconciliation is instantaneous. We've learned more about Confession from each of our children's preparation. I think confession struck her as inefficient. Her objections to confession, that you have to talk to a priest, helped us realise the power and necessity of the spoken word. The sacrament of confession is about repentance and reconciliation, which are impossible without a complete and honest acceptance of responsibility.
Words are real, tangible, definite.
We can feel our words in our mouths, and hear them in our ears. Even if we are alone in a room, spoken words by their impression on our physical senses, become more real that thoughts. If there's something we find difficult to say, it's because we don't want to admit or accept responsibility for it. But we can then turn to God with repentance and acceptance of responsibility in full confidence of reconciliation. So, you see Tina, you just can't make a good confession unless you tell it to the priest.