89. Hospitality to lonely children will naturally raise the question of adoption. John Paul II, speaking to a convocation of adoptive families, said: To adopt a child is a great work of love. When it is done, much is given, but much is also received. It is a true exchange of gifts. In this area, unfortunately, our time knows many contradictions. Despite the numerous children who, because of the death or inability of their parents, are left without a family, there are so many couples who decide to have no children for often selfish reasons. Others let themselves be discouraged by economic, social, or bureaucratic difficulties. Still others, in the desire to have their “own” child at any cost, go far beyond the legitimate help which medical science can offer procreation, even having recourse to morally reprehensible practices. Regarding these tendencies, it must be said that the norms of moral law are more than mere abstract principles, but safeguard the true good of man, and in this case, the good of the child with respect to the interests of his parents. John Paul II hoped that “Christian families will be able to show greater readiness to adopt and foster children who have lost their parents or have been abandoned by them.” He could venture this hope because the love that animates a Christian marriage is God’s covenant, a love which is eternally hospitable and filled with life.