First, there can be no more radical assent to the world than the praise of God, the lauding of the Creator of this same world. . . . secondly—the ritual festival is the most festive form that festivity can possible take. . . . thirdly—there can be no deadlier, more ruthless destruction of festivity than refusal of ritual praise. [156-157]A preceding reality makes evident this necessary "radical assent". The complexity of the natural world and its creatures points to the corresponding and surpassing supernatural complexity of heaven: "For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator." [WisSol 13:5]
Heaven's splendor is mirrored by the beauty and grandeur of human ritual celebration, most perfectly expressed as the holy sacrifice of the Mass. The psalmist prays, "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance." [Psa 90:8] Thus the unfathomable mysteries of heaven reveal human exigency while bringing to nothing the barrenness of the devil's grotesque society.
