By Father Oscar Duarte Dear friends, as we approach the celebration of the most blessed Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Scripture calls us to reflect on the marvelous dignity of all human existence – a dignity that comes from God, is present from the first moment of conception, and remains throughout one’s entire life. In the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, St. Luke recounts the events that took place during Mary’s visitation of her cousin, Elizabeth. After the archangel Gabriel came to present the Blessed Mother with God’s divine plan of salvation, which Mary embraced wholeheartedly by announcing her fiat mihi (“let it be done to me”), Mary became the mother of her Creator. Then, she hastened to visit her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant. St. Elizabeth, at finding herself before the presence of the new tabernacle – the place where God dwells; the coming of the long-awaited Messiah – uttered the all too familiar words for Catholics: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” These words signify that, by God’s grace, Mary became the archetype of womanhood, and her womb became the most sacred place on the face of the earth. As the new Eve, the icon of the Church, and the exemplar of true femininity, Mary is blessed because she chose to place her entire self at the service of God, and in doing so, her womb became infused, in a miraculous way, with the boundless presence of the Most Holy Trinity and the sacred humanity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Accordingly, every time we pray the Hail Mary, we echo the fact that God chose to enter the created order and become man by way of Mary’s womb. In placing her womb at God’s service, Mary would be exalted as the mother of all the baptized, the physical source of human redemption, and the exemplar of feminine virtue. Moreover, St. Luke tells us that as soon as “Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,” her baby, while still within the confines of her womb, leapt for joy at the presence of his Savior. In other words, even before his birth, St. John the Baptist was capable of sensing the presence of the God made flesh. As Scripture recounts, he was also capable of being “filled with the Holy Spirit” and of beginning his ministry of declaring the immediate coming of the Messiah, the one who came into the world to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies. Similarly, the Eastern Catholic traditions see Mary’s visitation of Elizabeth as a testament to the dignity of human existence within the womb. This is because, as unborn babies, both Jesus and John clearly demonstrate the presence of their innate dignity. Jesus, while still in Mary’s womb, made the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity palpably present to those who came within proximity of His mother. While still in Elizabeth’s womb, John exhibits the capacity to recognize the presence of his Creator. As human beings, we have the capacity to recognize the existence of our Creator and enter into a relationship with Him because for this we were made! We have been created for God’s sake, and this means that, for man, there is no greater work nor nobler task than the pursuit of an everlasting transforming union with almighty God. This is why St. Augustine writes in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Hence, human beings, from the first moment of our existence, are destined for an everlasting relationship with an eternal God, and all human beings must learn to honor and respect His sacred reality. This is man’s dignity, a dignity that becomes present at the first moment of conception and that remains throughout our entire lives. This past November, a local French news channel was fined an exorbitant amount of money for having aired an infographic that presented abortion as the leading cause of death in 2022. They exposed the French public to the reality that 73 million babies around the world, which accounts for 52 percent of all deaths in the world, were killed by abortion, and it cost the French channel 100,000 euros. Friends, as we finalize our Advent journey of hope and continue to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth, let us meditate on Mary and Elizabeth’s mystical encounter, let us gain a deeper appreciation for the dignity of human life within the womb, and let us support all expectant mothers within our communities. May the Blessed Mother protect all pregnant women from the diabolical temptation to end their child’s life. Father Oscar Duarte is parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Goshen. The post There is Dignity in the Womb appeared first on Today's Catholic.