The Ancient Hymn of Praise

The Gloria

Father David Jones

Catholic Practices

The year starts with Advent and the GLORIA is omitted from our bank of prayers. Did you miss it? It returns to the liturgy for Christmas. It is an ancient hymn of PRAISE.

It begins with the words of the angel to the shepherds who were keeping the night watch: GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST and ON EARTH PEACE TO PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL.

Heaven and Earth are united in this quick praise song. The angels lead this song and all those of GOOD WILL join in the chorus.

Giving God the glory! Notice that in this prayer we don’t ask for a thing other than mercy and that HE receive our prayer.

WE JUST GIVE HIM THE GLORY! “YOU ALONE…” It is all about God, as PRAISE ought to be.

Note that we sing this prayer at the beginning of our time of assembly and prayer. Right after confessing our sins, trusting in His mercy and grasping His grace, we break out into a song of HIS GLORY!

Praise is a form of worship that humbles us so we always acknowledge that God is God alone. We start our liturgy by FIRST GIVING HONOR TO GOD!

The GLORIA testifies that only God can heal the divisions amongst and between us. Make the connection between praising God and finding peace on earth. That is a little foretaste of heaven right at the beginning of our prayer!

Make sure you sing this one out loud! You definitely want to be in this number!