Are you, a Catholic, opposed to "exercising faith via a didactic rite?"
I'm not Roman Catholic- see my post below for my disagreements with transubstantiation- but to answer your question: no, there is nothing wrong with didatic purposes in any rite. The Anglican Carolina Divines made it a point that the Liturgy- including the Eucharist- should very much work towards the ediffication of faith. However, it is wrong to reduce the Eucharist to nothing more than an aid to faith in the sense that a picture is an aid to faith, or even a sermon. There is more to the Eucharist going on than a sermon in bread and wine. When Paul said that we partake of Christ's body and blood in the bread and cup, he did not mean that we are led to think about Him in it- though we are led to think about Him, and, hopefully, to exercise faith in Him (without which the sacrament will not aid you). Paul, I believe, meant this by what he said: that the bread and cup are truly our partaking of Christ's Body and Blood, through the Spirit (and hence spiritual in the true sense!).