In today’s gospel we heard the story of the Visitation: Mary, after her encounter with the angel, sets out in haste to see her kinswoman Elizabeth. They rejoice in their shared news, in their shared opportunity to cooperate with God in bringing forth new life.

Pro-life gatherings bring us together in a similar way: we acknowledge the gift and the wonder of pregnancy, and our responsibility to say yes to God as he calls forth new life in the womb. We have a grave moral obligation to support pregnant women and their unborn babies, and this obligation can also be a source of great joy.

Next month the diocese of Peoria will sponsor an opportunity to join together in prayer for the well-being and protection of pregnant women and unborn babies. The Chicago March for Life will take place on January 13. The diocese is sending a bus to the event, leaving from the ISU Newman Center at 7:40 am. The bus will stop for a 10:15 Mass before the march. Tickets are $25 and include three meals. You can find more information and online registration at this link.

Let’s ask for the intercession of St. Elizabeth and the Blessed Mother on behalf of all expectant mothers and their unborn babies, and especially for those women who are uncertain about how they will meet the challenges that pregnancy brings. Let’s pray for a just and hopeful world, in which the trials of pregnancy can become an opportunity for women and families to know the power of community and God’s abundant grace.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.

—Photo of Epiphany parishioners attending the 2018 Chicago March for Life; used with permission.