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Consider the problems presented to the young
couple facing the ridicule and suspicion of their home village as Mary,
having conceived by the Holy Spirit, is pregnant before marriage, and
Joseph her fiance supports her through her disgrace, convinced that
indeed she is innocent.
Imagine the discomfort of the long journey in late
pregnancy through inhospitable country to fulfil the requirements of
the thoughtless census decree.
Consider the distress of labour and delivery of a
first-born child with no pain relief, no sanitation, no midwife, and a
husband who is culturally ignorant of the process, let alone the
biology of giving birth.
Picture their utter amazement when the
shepherd-strangers arrive in the middle of the night to tell them of
the remarkable vision of angels; their joy at the confirmation of their
faith that this Child is indeed God.
See their wonder at the Magi, travelling vast
distances, to worship their Child, and presenting Him with gifts that
they had never dreamed existed.
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