VATICAN - The Pope at the Angelus: “joy enters the hearts of those who put themselves at the service of the humble and the poor. In those who love in this way, God makes his home and the soul is filled with joy. If instead happiness becomes an idol, this is the wrong road and it is very difficult to find the joy of which Jesus speaks”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called "gaudete" since it is marked by the call of Saint Paul "Gaudete in Domino semper - Always rejoice in the Lord " (Phil 4,4). “The Apostle urges Christians to rejoice because the Lord is coming, his return in glory is certain and he will not delay. The Church makes this call her own, as she prepares to celebrate Christmas and looks towards Bethlehem” said the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI before leading the Angelus prayer with thousands of people gathered in St Peter's Square on Sunday 16 December.
“The mystery of Bethlehem reveals to us God-with-us, God close to us” the Pope said, “He is close to us because he has ‘espoused', so to say, our humanity; he has assumed our condition, choosing to be like us in everything except sin, to enable us to become like Him. Christian joy stems therefore from this certainty: God is close, he is with me, he is with us in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, as a faithful friend and spouse. And this joy remains even in times of trial, even in suffering, and it remains not on the surface but deep within the person who entrusts himself to God and puts his trust in Him.”
Witnesses of this joy “with their lives, men and women of all ages and social condition, happy to consecrate their life for others”, and the Pope mentioned Mother Teresa of Calcutta a “unforgettable witness of true Gospel joy”. And he continued: “joy enters the hearts of those who put themselves at the service of the humble and the poor. In those who love in this way, God makes his home and the soul is filled with joy. If instead happiness becomes an idol, this is the wrong road and it is very difficult to find the joy of which Jesus speaks. This unfortunately is the proposal of cultures which put individual happiness in the place of God, a mentality with finds one of its emblematic effects in the seeking pleasure at all costs, in the spreading abuse of drugs as an escape, a haven in artificial paradises, which all reveal themselves to be totally illusory.”
Before reciting the Angelus prayer the Pope recalled that “even at Christmas we can take the wrong road, exchange the real feast for the feast which does not open the heart to joy in Christ” and he invoked the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary that she may “help all Christians, all men and women who seek God, to reach Bethlehem, to encounter the Child who is born for us, for the salvation and happiness of all men and women”.
Benedict XVI greeted thousands of children from Rome who had brought their little statues of the infant Jesus to be blessed by the Pope before being put in the manger in their respective Nativity scenes at home: “Dear children with deep affection I wish a Happy Christmas to you and to your families. While thanking the Centro Oratori Romani which organises this lovely initiatives, I urge priests, parents and catechists to collaborate with enthusiasm in the Christian education of children.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 17/12/2007 - righe 33, parole 518)