“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.” You won’t hear those words at Mass during Advent, but you can’t miss them on Christmas!

Hi, this is Fr. Rocky with another Advent Inspiration.

The “Gloria” is omitted at Mass during the Advent season because we are in a penitential season of preparation. Like it says in the Old Testament, “there is a time for weeping and a time for rejoicing.” We rejoice on Christmas Day by singing what the Choirs of Angels sang the night our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.

The shepherds heard them sing and never forgot it. When you go to Mass on Christmas, pay close attention to the words of the Gloria and put your heart into it – it’s the easiest way I know of to fulfill the First Commandment, which is the most important Commandment, and that is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind and soul.

I think the most beautiful and sublime score for the Gloria comes from the Gregorian Chant “Missa cum Jubilo”. It is so stunningly beautiful, that the greatest composer of all time, Mozart, wished he could have taken credit for it. But he couldn’t. No one knows who composed it. Maybe the angels did?

P.S. If you have missed a previous Advent Inspiration, you can find all of them here.