Catechism of the Catholic Church §2639 — excerpt
Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives him glory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS.
This translation is under copyright, so only the cited words are quoted here. Follow the link for the full text. Translation: English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Libreria Editrice Vaticana), as posted at vatican.va.