He was born into the silence of this world. Because there was no room for him in a proper house the night he was born, the Gospel of Luke reports, he was born of his mother with Joseph nearby out there in the stable with the animals. Probably there was no one interested. That was the silence of that night. Who would care, anyway? Just one more peasant child, and who celebrates or notices or marks the birth of yet another peasant arriving in this world? Have you ever heard a prayer of thanks for the children born in a United Nations refugee camp? The children of peasants are always born into silence.
It remained so silent that God in heaven decided to break that silence himself and let a few people know about it. So he sent an angel to the people who were nearest to the birth. He sent first one angel, and then a whole slew of angels, to the shepherds. That wasn’t the most obvious choice God could have made.
