Letter 1-- Ash Wednesday Letter 2-- Lent Letter 3-- St. Joseph: Joseph, the Husband of Mary

St. Joseph: Joseph, the Husband of Mary
Our Parish is named after St. Joseph so we have always had special celebrations on his day. We know very little about St. Joseph. We do know that he was a carpenter. When Jesus goes home to Nazareth, the people in his hometown ask each other, "Is he not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). I often wondered why Joseph planned to send Mary away after she told him that she was with child. I realized that Joseph did not know yet that the child was the Son of God, but I often thought that it seemed cold and even heartless to send the young Mary away. This year my son's 8th grade religion class did a research project on Joseph. I learned that according to the law a woman who had become pregnant before marrying could be stoned to death, so Joseph decided to protect Mary by sending her away quietly.

When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told Joseph that Mary's child was a child of God, Joseph married Mary immediately. We all know the stories of the trip to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus. We remember the flight into Egypt and the return to Nazareth. But my son wondered about those years before Jesus left Nazareth to preach the Good News.

My son researched what life was like in those days. He discovered what kind of food the people ate, what kind of clothes they wore, and what kind of houses they lived in. Finally, my son made a replica of the type of house that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived in.

This book is available from William H. Sadlier. http://www.sadlier.com