Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist

Lectionary: 643

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. Amen

Preparing for this feast of Saint Matthew, I have read my own reflections of the past several years and, to tell the truth, I think they're pretty good. Rather than surpass them today, I'll take a different tack and reflect on that beautiful prayer which is shaped, in part, by the Gospel of Matthew. We call it the "Glory Be" or the "Glory." We recite it at the end of each rosary decade, and it appears at the end of every psalm in the Liturgy of the Hours.

The prayer is a simple doxology, a brief exclamation of praise to God. Doxologies can be magnificent songs like, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." or brief, one word shouts, Glory! Of course we sing or recite the Gloria during our feasts and solemnities; and it is the long-awaited song of Holy Thursday, after a silence of forty Lenten days. The Glory Be recalls Jesus' command in the second-last verse of Saint Matthew's Gospel,

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Matthew's three-person formula took immediate and deep roots in our daily prayers and the liturgy; and provided an outline for the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. But first it was the formula for the baptismal vows; and, as such, the curriculum for catechumens. "Father, Son, Spirit" is a three word summary of everything we believe. 

We give glory to God as the sea gives glory to the sun by the brilliant reflection which makes our world, seen from deep space, glimmer like a diamond. But our gift of glory to God is much deeper and richer for it reflects the mercy we have known and the joy of redemption. We have laughed to watch our enemies retreating before God's goodness; they flee into the shadows even as the shadows disappear before the rising sun. They are no more for God has delivered us forever.

The Glory prayer continues with an invocation of time past, present, and future. Our God always was, is, and always will be. When we recite this formula we locate ourselves in time and in the presence of God. Unlike the eternal God, we are creatures embedded in time; we have no existence without it. We remember not only our particular lives but centuries of human history. We are continually immersed in that history. To drive on a road is to remember the road was built and its purpose. To speak words and use language is to summon several thousand years of etymological history even as our usage subtly redefines and repurposes the same words for the future.

We are with God also as creatures of the present moment. The Glory prayer invites us to stop and be present in the moment, saying "Here I am, Lord." We're often in a hurry to get somewhere else and do something else. We sometimes expect pleasure and satisfaction to appear in the future. We plan and sacrifice for it. But pleasure is only in the moment. It will go right past me if I fail to notice it. If I don't enjoy the getting there, I won't enjoy being there.

Then the words -- ever shall be -- remind us that God will always be there. Human creatures cannot live without a future. The cruelty of slavery is especially its denial of hope. Poverty, threats, and fatal illness also threaten our future, challenging us to believe in God when the future seems to disappear. Catastrophes can momentarily overwhelm our sense of the future. We know the worst is past when the future reappears.

When Saint Matthew's gospel was written reflected a settling down and growing confidence in the Church. Rather than Saint Mark's eminent "Kingdom of God," Saint Matthew tells us of the "Kingdom of Heaven" which is foreordained and predestined, but might not arrive immediately. The horizon of the future has moved further away and the Church is building organizations and doctrines to survive the ages. Our past too has expanded as we realize Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of very ancient prophecies, even of God's words to Adam and Eve. My past didn't begin the day I was born, nor will my future cease when I die. 

Saint Matthew's gospel, like the Glory Prayer, shows who we are in God's plan of Salvation History. It is ever ancient, ever new, always beautiful, and deeply, profoundly good.

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. Amen