So little for so much

I'm wrapping my mind around the idea of the intertwining of faith and work in the mass and just can't reconcile the fact that if even a little work need be done to make the sacrament efficacious then it shows little regard for the justification wrought for us on the cross of Jesus Christ. Our actions, whether worshipful or not, cannot justify us in the eyes of God, that is the work and merit of Jesus Christ.

I would then say that indeed the sacrament is meant only as a consolation, the text goes on to say, "So Ambrose said, "Because I always sin, I ought always take the medicine." What do we, as saint and sinner, need more than the consolation, received in faith, that Christ Jesus died for the very sickness we are being treated for?