Aha! Confession: Good for the soul and the Body

In our Episcopal and Anglican Prayer Books, the prayer of confession is said by the congregation during each worship service. The pronouns are plural, "We confess we have sinned...we have not loved you...we have not loved our neighbors...we are truly sorry...we humbly repent..." That can appear to be a cop out, that I don't have to think about what I, myself, have done. I simply mouth the words and receive God's mercy. But the truth is that when I sin the entire Body of Christ is infected, there's nothing personal about it. So perhaps in this corporate prayer, my brothers and sisters are asking God to be merciful to ME and I am doing the same for them. The infected Body is healed through forgiveness, mercy and love, so we may delight in God's will and walk in God's ways to the glory of God's Name.