The Incarnation and the Mass
The Gloria, like many hymns and prayers of the Mass, includes various parts. The first part of the Gloria (quoted above) is a citation from the nativity of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. The full text states:
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Lk 2:8–14)
This encounter between the angels and the shepherds is important for understanding the spiritual meaning of singing the Gloria. Shepherds within Israel are not simply, as it is often presented, meager farmhands. After all, David, the great king of Israel, comes from a line of shepherds. Thus, although the encounter between the angels and shepherds may happen in the midst of night, hidden from the sight of the rest of the world, there is a political implication to the encounter. The angels, by appearing to shepherds, are announcing the beginning of God’s reign of peace. The shepherd kings of Israel have come to greet the newborn king of the world, born in the silence of the night.
This interpretation of the encounter is underlined throughout the text. “Good news,” or gospel, is often used in Greco-Roman literature to denote a military victory. Christ has appeared in the city of David, Bethlehem, the great king’s city. This remarkable victory, rather than a matter of military prowess, is being carried out through the poverty of an infant in swaddling clothes, lying in the feed trough of animals. This seemingly impoverished victory is praised by the angels who proclaim that the glory of God now dwells among mortals, beginning the reign of peace.
The first two lines of the Gloria are in fact essential to understanding what takes place at Mass. In this small parish church, where the lives of men and women unfold over the years, the Word still becomes flesh. God’s glory appears in the reading of Scripture, in the body of Christ assembled, in the priest’s ministry, and most of all in the Eucharistic species. To most, the remarkable vision of what is happening cannot be seen. God’s glory is still unfolding in a hidden way, in the lives of those who assemble to offer divine praise. Here, in this parish church, the reign of God’s peace announced by the angels continues for the benefit of all the world.
This is proclaimed to us at the beginning of Mass. And we join in the song of the angels, letting our voice enter into the heavenly chorus. Heaven’s peace becomes the earth’s when we sing this song, making it our own in our hearts.
Repetition and Praise
The second part of the Gloria moves from salvation history into a contemplation of God’s very being as Trinity. The text states: We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. To an English speaker, this seems highly repetitive. What’s the difference between praise, blessing, adoration, glorification, and thanksgiving? Is the Church just being inefficient?
In fact, the Catholic Mass, growing out of Scriptural poetry, has always repeated itself. We repeat ourselves because no word that we utter is sufficient to praise God. We repeat ourselves because every word we say enables us to ascend closer to God, to lift up our hearts in praise of God’s love. We repeat ourselves because God never tires of hearing our simple speech offered as a gift, akin to the way that parents delight in the earliest stages of a child’s speech.
And our song continues to praise the triune God revealed by Jesus Christ. The Gloria is a Trinitarian hymn in which we praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At the central axis of the hymn is Jesus, the Word made flesh, who reveals to us the splendor and mercy of God’s reign on earth. He is the reason we are gathered together for prayer this day. It is because of his mercy that our voices can sound out in song, joining the festive chorus of the angelic host.
The Church sings this song. And every time our voices enter into this praise, the glory of God revealed through Jesus Christ becomes present to us once again:
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