December 21, 2024

We know how God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus.  But we should also consider that in a sense he chose Joseph for a role as well.  Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married, which was an ever higher level of commitment than we think of engagement today.  When Mary was chosen Joseph was also in the picture.  What we know about Joseph is that he was a man of tremendous character who, though hurt by what he did not understand at the moment,  chose to deal with his hurt in a way that also was considerate towards Mary.  He was given the role of being the protector of Jesus.  It was Joseph, not Mary, who was told to get the baby out of Bethlehem when his life was threatened by Herod.  What an amazing responsibility- protect the newborn king.  Joseph is sometimes just seen as an add-on character to the nativity story.  He just happened to be there because he was with Mary we may think.  Let's not forget that Joseph was chosen for a big role too.  

I hope everyone stays warm today and can enjoy the football game if you are a fan.  Go Penn State! (That is a statement that you will rarely ever hear from me).