It IS from men. Jesus never told me that I would go to hell if I refused to abstain from meat on Friday and then didn’t participate in a manmade ritual of absolution.
That is true. But He gave the authority to legislate in such matters to the Church (Mt 18:17-18), and the Church legislated in a certain way. If you mean that you personally do not have the duty to obey the Church, you may be right if you are not Catholic, but if you are Catholic and do not obey the Church then you are "as the heathen and publican", not likely to be saved.
manmade ritual of absolution
The confessionary is man made, and the priest is a man, and you can perhaps say that the ritualistic part of the sacrament of confession is man-made. However, the sacrament itself is divinely decreed: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" (John 20:22f). Absolution, -- forgiveness of sin -- is one possible outcome of the sacrament of confession.