Indeed dearest sister in Christ! What ritual is clearly not is some kind of attempt to "channel" God.... Ritual (it seems to me) is not at all about manifesting, invoking, or conjuring the Presence of God; it's more about manifesting the Body of Christ — that is, the body of Christian worshippers.
It seems to me the Roman Catholic Church takes more of a "'whole man" approach to human individuals — i.e., the human person is body and soul — than many Reformed confessions do, which tend to be more focused on the spiritual part of man. The more radical confessions among them basically are only interested in the rational aspect of man. In short, body is given short shrift and is often considered to be the "enemy" of the spiritual man.
The Roman Church sees the two components — body and soul — as mutually necessary. This is a realist attitude about human existence. As such the Church honors and respects the bodily aspects of human life; and I believe this is what we see reflected in the sacraments and rituals of the Church. Sensory experiences are invoked; the people participate in physical actions that bind them together into a common sense of spiritual unity, as a true Body of Christ, manifesting their thanks and praise to the Lord in so doing.
Christ Himself honored the body by His Incarnation. Thus the body is not to be disparaged.
The truth of [genuine human] development consists in its completeness: if it does not involve the whole man and every man, it is not true development. This is the central message of Populorum Progressio, valid for today and for all time. Integral human development on the natural plane, as a response to a vocation from God the Creator, demands self-fulfilment in a “transcendent humanism which gives [to man] his greatest possible perfection: this is the highest goal of personal development." The Christian vocation to this development therefore applies to both the natural plane and the supernatural plane; which is why, “when God is eclipsed, our ability to recognize the natural order, purpose and the ‘good' begins to wane.” — Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate.Anyhoot, that's how I'd explain it anyway, FWIW. (Probably I didn't do a very good job!)
Thank you so much, dearest sister in Christ, for your excellent insights into this question!