Joseph doesn't usually get much attention in our retelling of the Christmas story, but we can learn a lot from him. In the eyes of the community, Mary's situation would reflect very badly upon Joseph, who was innocent of the sin that people would believe him to be guilty of. Instead of leaving Mary to fend for herself, he took the shame of her situation upon himself: a life-saving sacrificial gift done out of compassion and love and obedience. Does that remind you of anyone? Yes! Joseph points us to Jesus. Joseph's God/human son would go on to do the same thing for all of us. Let us in turn be reflections of Jesus by laying aside our own security in order to share God's forgiveness with others.
