The liturgical assembly is in the world, yet not of the world. Here heaven intersects with earth. And so, like Moses before us, we remove our shoes in the presence of God. We may speak and act a bit differently in the liturgy than we do ordinarily, but then we are in extraordinary circumstances. For the ground upon which we stand is holy ground. Whenever and wherever we step into the liturgy, we step on holy ground; we step into the presence of God.
The liturgy strikes some people as cold and impersonal, but that's because it is an extraordinary situation. Ritual for its own sake is idolatry, but even secular society has certain revered rituals. The formal changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery, for example, reinforces the solemn honor a grateful nation accords its dead heroes. No one calls the soldiers of the honor guard hypocrites because they act differently at those tombs than they would, say, at the beach or the movies. Solemn assembly calls for solemn actions.
-- Harold L. Senkbeil in Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness