Today, we are reading an excerpt from chapter 10 of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. The Lord has sent seventy-two disciples to the places He intended to visit. And they return jubilant. Hearing them recount their deeds and feats, Jesus “rejoiced in the holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth’' (Lk 10:21).

Gratitude is one of the facets of humility. The arrogant person considers that they owe nothing to anyone. But to be grateful, we need first to discover our insignificance. 'Thank you' is one of the first words we teach children. “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Lk 10:21).

Pope Benedict XVI, speaking of the attitude of worship, states that it presupposes an “acknowledgement of the presence of God, Creator and Lord of the Universe. This recognition is full of gratitude that wells up from the depths of their heart and floods their entire being, for it is only by adoring and loving God above all things.”

A sensitive soul feels the need to express its gratitude. This is the only thing we humans can do to respond to divine favors. “What joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men? Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation.” (Saint Leo the Great).

Today, and always, we Christians are all invited to share Jesus' joy. He, filled with the holy Spirit, said: “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Mt 11:25). Very rightly, this fragment of the Gospel has been called the “Magnificat of Jesus” by some authors, as the underlying idea is the same as in Mary's Canticle (cf. Lc 1:46-55).

Joy is an attitude, which goes together with hope. It has to be difficult for a person who has no hope, to be happy. And, what is it that we Christians put our hope in? The coming of the Messiah and of his Kingdom, in which justice and peace will bloom; a new reality where “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.” (Is 11:6). The kingdom we are waiting for is making its way day by day, and we have to know how to discover its presence amongst us. For the world we live in, so lacking in peace and harmony, in justice and love, how necessary the hope of us Christians is! A hope that does not come from natural optimism nor false illusion, but from God himself.

However, Christian hope, which is light and heat for the world, will only be had by those who are simple and humble of heart, because God has hidden knowledge and the mystery of his kingdom's love from the wise and expert, that is to say, from the ones who are blinded by pride in their erudition.

A good way to prepare the paths of the Lord in this Advent would precisely be to grow in humility and in simplicity, to open our hearts to the gifts of God, to live with hope and become better witnesses of Jesus' kingdom every day.