Hosea 6:4-6. Ephraim and Judah's love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that dries up in the sun. Therefore, God has hewn them with his prophets and slain them with his words. His judgment goes forth as the light. For he desires love, not sacrifice; knowledge of him, not burnt offerings.

God doesn't want us to just be going through the motions. He put "the motions" in place to bring us to him - as rituals in our busy world where we can quiet ourselves and find him and his love. The sacrifices, the rituals, are not meant to be the final thing, they are meant to get us to the final thing. But so often we do them and then we feel freed up to get on with our actual life, with the things we want to do. "There, I went to Mass, now I can have the rest of my Sunday free!"

That's not what God wants! He wants our love, not to make us do rituals. In fact, if we can't to do the rituals (like during COVID, for example), but we still love him with our whole heart, that is so much better than doing the rituals without love.