Friday in the Second Week of Lent

We trace the Gloria from the angels at Bethlehem to the church’s solemn worship and learn how adoration, not anxiety, changes prayer. We ask honest questions about using God for favors and practice surrender through a daily offering with Mary.

• origin and meaning of the Gloria in worship
• adoration before petition as a spiritual order
• connection between Christmas joy and Lenten mercy
• the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world
• practical daily offering through Mary’s heart
• examining motives in prayer and seeking purity of praise

If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to continue to grow in your faith this land, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our Lenten Reflection booklet, now available on Amazon.com
The Criteros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store
More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org

Transcript

Opening Prayers Of Lent

Offering Of The Day

The Gloria’s Heavenly Origins

Adoration Beyond Gratitude

Personal Examination And Surrender

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Friday, in the second week of Lent. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen. Gloria. On the first Christmas night, when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the angels burst forth from heaven singing the praises of God, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. Over time, the church expanded this holy hymn and slowly began to use it for other feasts besides Christmas. In any case, the glory of this hymn is that it is from heaven itself. The angels themselves are singing with us, and in a sense, we are learning to give glory to God from them when we sing this. With this hymn, the church, gathered in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb. Given the relation of this hymn to Christmas, this makes sense. Since the Nativity of Jesus was the public manifestation of the incarnation, of God becoming one of us in the flesh, we look to him as Lord and God. We also recognize him in this hymn as the Lamb who is sacrificed that our sins might be blotted out. Thanks be to God. Of course, it is hard to consider the Christ child as the one who will also be crucified, but that was the purpose of his coming, to die and rise that we might have life. Since the church uses this hymn on Sundays, feasts, and special occasions in the life of the church, we can also see here a particular way that the church is teaching us to praise God on these solemn days. Similar to the Teum in the Divine Office, the Church is instructing us, along with the angelic choirs, to praise, bless, adore, and glorify God, to give him thanks for his glory. Note here these tones of adoration. We are not even thanking God for his wonders and blessings, but simply for being God. We are recognizing who he is and adoring him for this. Yes, there are other times in prayer when we thank God for his good graces, and even later in this hymn, it is his glory and majesty that makes us cry out for mercy, confident that he will grant this prayer because of who he is. But here we are taught to love God simply as God, for you alone are the Holy One. You alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Do you treat God as a sort of divine vending machine, only talking to him when you need something? Do you praise and thank God for his goodness to you? Do you ever praise and bless and adore him simply because he is God? All that I have and all that I am, I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to continue to grow in your faith this land, consider joining the Cristos and purchasing our Lenten Reflection booklet, now available on Amazon.com. The Christuros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristuros can be found at theCristuros.org.