When I meet with a couple in preparation for their baby's baptism, I always ask this question: Have you prepared a will and have you specified in it who would rear your child if you were removed from the picture? Young parents don't like to even think about such a possibility, but life's uncertainties make it necessary. It's a tough question. Whom do you trust enough to rear your precious child? God had to answer that question when he decided to send his son Jesus to planet earth. God had to select a mother and a stepfather for his son.

God selected Mary to be the mother. She was a pious teenager from Nazareth, belonging to a poor but proud family. Mary has received lots of attention, especially from our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. The forgotten person in the Nativity is Joseph, t…