Saint Joseph
Just the gist (for small children and others with tiny attention spans):
Joseph was a holy man who descended from King David and was married to Mary who was pregnant with Jesus. He wasn’t the most talkative of fellas, but he listened to God and kept his little Holy Family safe and protected.
For those that can handle just a bit more:
The Joseph on Day 8 had a father named Jacob, made a trip into Egypt that ended up saving his family and God communicated to him through dreams.
Day 23 Joseph had a father named Jacob, made a trip into Egypt that saved his family and God communicated to him through dreams.
Joseph was betrothed to a young gal named Mary. Betrothal was a kind of engagement only more binding than our modern engagements. The betrothed enjoyed all the legal aspects of being married, such as not being able to get out of it aside from divorce or death, but not yet the tangible aspects of being married, such as living under the same roof or arguing over socks not being put into the hamper.
Joseph found out Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit. Not quite sure what to do with the whole situation and being a just man, he decided to divorce her quietly so as not to put her to shame or, you know, get her stoned. It was then that an angel appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David, marry Mary! That little baby was conceived of the Holy Spirit. She’s going to have a boy. Name him Jesus since he will save the people from their sins.” Jesus means ‘God saves’, so God thought it was an apt name. He also really wanted Joseph as his son’s foster father because it was through Joseph that Jesus would get his Davidic lineage that would let people know he was the promised Messiah (Matthew 1:1-16).
Joseph woke up, married Mary and spent the next nine months coming to terms with the fact that he was the foster father of God.
At that time, Caesar Augustus was in charge of the Roman Empire which meant he was in charge of the known world. He figured he better figure out how many people were in that known world so he decided to have a census. He insisted that everyone go back to their city of lineage to be counted, which meant Joseph had to pack up his little pregnant wife and make the journey to Bethlehem, the city of David.
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I commenced this reading with a tear in my eye in that I was coming to the end of a soul stirring experience of my human history in beautiful illustration and heartwarming prose. But I guess that absolute truth does that to people ! As we draw to the close, I will pray for all who witness this story and carry the excitement out into the world !