Why do we give God thanks for his great glory in the gloria?

[N0X3x]

First of all, why is his glory something that benefits us?

related to that, it isn’t as if God’s glory were intended to be a gift to us. It would be like thanking God for being trinitarian. God never decided to be glorious, he just is. How does it make sense to thank someone for something they never intended to be a gift to you, which doesn’t benefit you in the first place?

 

[CHRISTINE77]

First of all, why is his glory something that benefits us?

related to that, it isn’t as if God’s glory were intended to be a gift to us. It would be like thanking God for being trinitarian. God never decided to be glorious, he just is. How does it make sense to thank someone for something they never intended to be a gift to you, which doesn’t benefit you in the first place?

I thank God for everything he does and is! I thank him for his mercy, his love, his justice, his glory, his power, etc. etc. Part of praying to God is to thank him and praise him, not just asked of him.

 

[porthos11]

First of all, why is his glory something that benefits us?

related to that, it isn’t as if God’s glory were intended to be a gift to us. It would be like thanking God for being trinitarian. God never decided to be glorious, he just is. How does it make sense to thank someone for something they never intended to be a gift to you, which doesn’t benefit you in the first place?

Given that in Christ, this mankind can now share in that glory is much reason to be thankful. That glory IS now indeed a gift to us. It has been made possible through the passion, resurrection and ascension of Christ. That is why we ought to be thankful because that glory is now ours as well.

 

[revert_jen]

I figure I’m thanking Him for revealing His Glory (well, really only a small part of it, but as much as we can understand) to us. I may not be thinking what I’m supposed to think, but that’s what I’m thinking. Without revelation, I don’t think we could even imagine it. But knowing it’s real, and even greater than I can imagine it, is a blessing.

–Jen

 

[N0X3x]

Given that in Christ, this mankind can now share in that glory is much reason to be thankful. That glory IS now indeed a gift to us. It has been made possible through the passion, resurrection and ascension of Christ. That is why we ought to be thankful because that glory is now ours as well.

I see. So we are not thanking him for having glory, we are thanking him for giving his glory to us.

That makes sense, but in that case, shouldn’t the words be “we give you thanks for giving us your glory”? the words we currently have indicate that we thank him merely for having it.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I see. So we are not thanking him for having glory, we are thanking him for giving his glory to us.

That makes sense, but in that case, shouldn’t the words be “we give you thanks for giving us your glory”? the words we currently have indicate that we thank him merely for having it.

No, we are giving God thanks for his great glory. He is wonderful, omnipotent, powerful, beautiful and glorious. In other words, we are thankful that we have such a glorious God. What’s hard to understand about that?

 

[N0X3x]

Because God can’t help his great glory. He never chose to be glorious. We might as well give thanks for God’s existence.

When you thank someone, you do so for a voluntary act on their part that benefits you. God’s glory does not fit into this category.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

Because God can’t help his great glory. He never chose to be glorious. We might as well give thanks for God’s existence.

When you thank someone, you do so for a voluntary act on their part that benefits you. God’s glory does not fit into this category.

And you should give thanks for God’s existence!
And don’t forget Jesus voluntarily gave up his life for you. And God gave up his only begotten son for you.

 

[porthos11]

I see. So we are not thanking him for having glory, we are thanking him for giving his glory to us.

That makes sense, but in that case, shouldn’t the words be “we give you thanks for giving us your glory”? the words we currently have indicate that we thank him merely for having it.

We thank him for both. Glory is inherent to God, and as you say, we thank him insofar as this glory benefits us. This glory benefits us, first of all, in our creation from nothing. Then there is the regeneration in Baptism. There are the extraordinary benefits of that same glory in the miracles that God sees fit to work to edify the faithful, especially the miracles of Christ. There is the resurrection of the dead. All of these are manifestations in the human experience of the glory inherent in God.

That we benefit from his glory is first of all due to the fact that God is himself glorious. That’s why we thank him, not only for the fact that he IS glorious, but also that he has made his glory known, i.e. given to us. The two are never separable.

The key concept we need to understand here is that which gives the supreme Catholic service its name: Eucharist. This is simply the Greek word for thanksgiving, and is analogous to the Hebrew todah. The todah, in brief is offered as a thanksgiving for deliverance from danger or death, and as a nation, Israel offered the todah to recall God’s saving deeds throughout their history, which are punctuation by manifestations of his glory. The Eucharist brings this todah to its fulfillment. We cannot see the word “thank” in the Gloria outside of this context, because the very concept of “thanksgiving” in the liturgy is done against the backdrop of salvation history and the role of the todah there.