381 The reason why we call on Mary as the cause of our joy is because she welcomes, she carries, and she gives Jesus. Mary’s joy therefore springs from her relationship with Jesus. We say that she is the “cause of our joy” because she gives us Jesus: she gives us the One who brings joy to the world. This is the joy that the Angel Gabriel announced to the shepherd in Bethlehem: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). When the Magi arrived at the cave in Bethlehem, seeing the star over the place where Jesus was born, they “were overjoyed”; and when they met the Infant Jesus in person, they rejoiced with a very great joy. When the Angel Gabriel came to visit Mary in her little village of Nazareth—a young girl about fifteen years old at the time—he greeted her with an extraordinary expression: Khaire, which can be translated as “Rejoice!” “The first word of the New Testament is an invitation to joy,” Benedict XVI tells us. And he adds: “The New Testament is truly ‘Gospel,’ the ‘Good News’ that brings us joy. God is not remote from us, unknown, enigmatic, or perhaps dangerous. God is close to us, so close that he makes himself a child and we can informally address this God.”2 What is the “meeting place” of our communion with Jesus? It is the praise of God which the Spirit awakens in each person. Praise is a living expression of the joy of meeting with the God of joy. Pope Francis tells us: “The prayer of praise does not isolate us, it does not shut us away in ourselves and our own needs; rather, it draws us into the heart of the Father, it connects us with all our brothers and sisters. The prayer of praise is the antidote to sadness, to the temptation to let ourselves be troubled because we are interiorly small and exteriorly small in numbers. Someone who praises will care not 2. Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 18 December 2005. Passo 1
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