Read Mark 2 10-17. To have an idea of the sacramental visible signs in Penance two things happen. At the same time, the sinner is reinstated in the community and again shares at the Community Eucharistic table. An analogy for the above is our civil judicial process. The Council of Trent uses this image in developing the theology of penance.
Absolution is given by a priest, who acts as judge.
The sacrament of penance is an unusual tribunal. The guilty party, the penitent, accuses himself and approaches the Lord in sorrow, admitting guilt before His representative - the priest. The priest, who is Christ's minister in penance, listens to the confession in the name of the Lord to discover the penitent's openness, sorrow and will to conversion on the grounds for a judgement of forgiveness. It is in the name of Christ that the priest speaks the judgment of the Savior's mercy. Baptism because it restores or renews baptismal holiness and 'laborious' because it cannot do this without many tears and labors on our part.