<p>2:7 <i>And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn</i>- Jer. 14:8 was addressed to the Lord and Saviour of Israel, Jesus-Messiah: &ldquo;Why are you like an alien in the land, like a traveller who stays in <i>lodgings</i>?&rdquo;. If Mary had made all these connections, the hurt of being told there was no room in the lodging, and having to give birth in a stable, laying her dear child in a cattle manger&hellip; would have been far less felt by her. These things would have thrilled and rejoiced her heart rather than hurt her, just as we can joyfully perceive how present sufferings are working out so analogous to a Biblical verse or character.&nbsp;</p><p>The whimpering, vulnerable <i>Son of God</i> was laid down in a cattle stall (Luke, the doctor who appreciated the need for hygiene, so emphasizes this: Lk. 2:7,12,16), because the other guests in that cheap hotel couldn't make space for a heavily pregnant woman (again, Luke the doctor would've sensed the shame of it).&nbsp;<i>&quot;</i>No room for them in the inn<i>&quot; </i>can also be translated &quot;The inn was not the place for them&quot; (Lucien Deiss, <i>Joseph, Mary, Jesus</i> (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1996) p. 28). It had to be this way- the way of rejection, of poverty. God's children ultimately know no other way in this world. Did Mary see the link between her giving birth in a stable and laying Jesus down in a &ldquo;manger&rdquo; (Gk. <i>phatne</i>), perhaps with oxen and donkeys onlooking, and Is. 1:3 LXX: &ldquo;The ox knows its owner, and the donkey knows the <i>phatne</i> (&ldquo;manger&rsquo;) of its Lord (<i>kyrios</i> as in Lk. 2:11), but Israel has not known me&rdquo;.</p><p>The serene paintings of the scene do no justice to it. The whole setting would have been dirty, noisy and inappropriate for a birth place. The Lord was born into rejection, poverty and desperation; with Mary in a strange place, far from home and her relatives, having her first child so humanly alone. And the Father continues His same style of working to this day, through the things which man despises.</p>