It will never register in your catholic mind that paying for your sins is the antithesis of Grace. so ... goodbye.
No, it will never register because it’s nuts!
We look at it differently, obviously. If I steal $20 from you, and say I’m sorry, you can certainly forgive me. You’d probably want the $ back. Of course, we can’t repay God anything because everything is His. However, we can make a gesture. Prayer, being of free will, is probably the best gesture we can make.