St Mary Anne's Church

Rooted in the past, reaching for the future

  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About Us
      • Our Beliefs
    • Location
    • Building & Grounds
      • Churchyard & Memorial Garden Regulations
      • The Thompson Memorial Crocus Lawn
    • Parish Administration
      • Clergy
      • Parish Committees
      • Staff
      • Vestry
    • St. Mary Anne’s History
      • Who was St. Mary Anne?
  • Worship
    • Service Times
    • Liturgy & Sacraments
      • Baptisms
      • Funerals
      • Weddings
    • Worship Ministries
    • Prayer
      • Forward Day by Day Devotional
      • Lectionary Page
      • The Daily Office
  • Music
    • Worship Music
    • St. Mary Anne’s String Studio
  • Events & Fellowship
    • News
    • Calendar
    • Annual Events
      • Christmas Cookie Walk
      • Family Train Day
      • Wreaths Across America
    • Fellowship
      • Coffee Hour
      • 2:42 Men’s Group & R.O.M.E.O’s
      • Fellowship Ministry
      • North Elk Coffee House
      • The ECW
      • The St. Mary Anne’s Gardeners & The Green Team
  • Annual Garden Market
    • About our Event
  • Formation
    • Child Formation
    • Youth Formation
    • Adult Formation
  • Outreach
    • Food Pantry
    • Help & Mission
      • Pastoral Care
  • Give
    • Stewardship
    • Donate

2020 Parishioner Advent Reflection Day 16

December 15, 2020 by St Mary Anne Admin

I love the story of Mary and have read many books about her but recently for some reason I’ve started to think about Joseph. Perhaps it’s because I have a good husband, sons, a son-in-law, grandsons, a grandson-in-law, and my sweet great grandson Henry that I wondered how difficult that time must have been for Joseph. He was, from all accounts, a good Christian man who was a carpenter by trade and engaged to a younger woman when she tells him she is expecting a child and that he is not the father. Not only that but an angel appeared and told him God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. Can you imagine his thoughts and his heavy burden of deciding what to do? I’m sure he had many questions and doubts about what Mary and his future would hold.
Wow –that was a lot to handle!
He could have publicly shamed Mary and broken their engagement but he didn’t.
Mary and Joseph were married as planned – perhaps a little sooner than planned. Sometime after the wedding and before the birth of the baby they had to travel to Bethlehem for the census and to pay their taxes. They walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem and along the way Mary goes into labor – they don’t know anyone, there were no rooms to be rented and Mary gives birth in a barn! I wonder if he had to assist in the birth? And still Joseph is by Mary’s side. Eventually they are able to return home and raise their family.
There isn’t a lot more we know about Joseph and there is no mention of him when Jesus was crucified so I think he died prior to Jesus death or we would have read of his being at Mary’s side.
What a wonderful love story and what a good man! Joseph certainly loved and trusted God and Mary.
Andrea Pugh

Filed Under: Advent Reflections

Pledge!

Contact Us

Office

410.287.5522
office@stmaryanne.org
315 South Main St.
North East, MD 21901
Hours: 9am – 12pm M-F

Food Pantry

410.287.2230
outreach@stmaryanne.org
Hours: 9:30am – 12pm M-W-Sat

Service Times

Sunday 8:00AM: Rite II Service with Holy Eucharist

Sunday 10:00AM: Rite II Service with Holy Eucharist

Follow Us

Facebookyoutube
Our Video Gallery

Recent News

  • A Great Start!
  • A Successful Luncheon!
  • ECW Fall Meeting
  • Sunday School Teachers Needed
  • Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse.
  • Wednesday Women Luncheon Returns
  • 2023-2024 North Elk Coffee House Season Begins in September
  • EfM Sunday Graduation
  • UPDATE!! DATE Change!! ECW Covered Dish Picnic 2023
  • North Elk Coffee House May Show

Copyright © 2023 · Enterprise Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in