“We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.” - GLORIA
My first ministry after professing vows as a Dominican Sister was in a parish in the South Bronx. It was during the late 1980s, when the crack epidemic was raging, the neighborhood was in ruins, and gang violence was rampant.
David, a member of our youth group, was shot and killed by a rival gang. I was grief-stricken and plagued with guilt—I should have done more to save him.
I traveled out of the city to see my spiritual director and poured out my heart to her. When I was finished, she looked at me with compassion and conviction and said, “There is only one Savior, and his name is not Terry Rickard.”
I was taken aback, but then I felt relief. Praying these words, “You alone are the Holy One, and you alone are the Lord,” helped me regain my footing.
Sing of God’s wonders
The Gloria is a wonderful hymn that reminds us of who we are and to whom we belong. We are not all-powerful, but we are filled with God’s power to be instruments of his saving love for others.
The Gloria invites us to sing of the wonders of our God, who comes to save us, to bring us peace and good will, even in our grief and suffering. This great liturgical prayer of praise and adoration reminds us of the compassion of God revealed in the forgiving power of Jesus.
When we encounter the Holy One, the all-powerful God, we are moved to praise, bless, adore, glorify, and give thanks. Words are never enough or quite right enough to express the deepest feelings of our spirit.
The previous translation of the Gloria was concise and to the point. The new translation restores the repetition and poetry of the original Latin, enhancing our liturgical prayer.
Glorify the Lord by your life
As I learned from my ministry in the Bronx, God is all-powerful, and I am only a humble instrument of his saving grace and love. This is a lesson I need to continually relearn, as I often take on too much and rely on my own strength. God is glorified in me when I love freely and depend fully on God.
We sing glory as we praise God together in liturgy, and we are sent forth from liturgy: “Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your life.”
Suggestions for Prayer:
- Reflect on a life situation in which you need to remember Jesus is the Savior; bring it to the Lord in prayer, repeating, “You alone are the Lord.”
- Pray the words of the Gloria at the top of this page, followed by “For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord.”
Reprinted with permission from Living with Christ. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.livingwithchrist.us or call 1-800-214-3386.
Sr. Terry is the Executive Director of RENEW International and a Dominican Sister from Blauvelt, NY.