Today, we contemplate the Virgin Mary's Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. As soon as she was told she had been chosen by God the Father to be the Mother of the Son of God, and that her cousin Elizabeth had also received the gift of motherhood, she decidedly set out for the hills to congratulate her cousin, to share with her the joy of having being blessed with the gift of maternity and to serve her.

The salutation of the Mother of God prompted the infant Elizabeth carried in her womb to leap with joy. God's Mother, who also carried Jesus in her womb, is a cause for joy. Families are happy when the arrival of a new life is announced. Christ's birth is certainly “good news of great joy” (Lk 2:10).

And yet, these days, motherhood is not duly prized. Quite often other interests, which are an expression of convenience and selfishness, are opposed to it. Parental love implies an eventual renunciation. This scares many married couples who, perhaps, should be more generous with the goods they have received from God by saying “yes” to new life in a more responsible way. Thus, many families stop being “shrines of life”. Saint John Paul II confirmed that birth control and abortion “are rooted in a hedonistic mentality unwilling to accept responsibility in matters of sexuality, and they imply a self-centered concept of freedom, which regards procreation as an obstacle to personal fulfillment.”

During five months Elizabeth did not leave her home, and thought: “So has the Lord done for me” (Lk 1:25). And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord ... for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant” (Lk 1:46-48). The Virgin Mary and Elizabeth value and are grateful for what God has given them: maternity! It is necessary that we, Catholics, find again the significance of life as a sacred gift from God to human beings.