If God visits the vulnerable, so should we.

The opening chapter of the Gospel of Luke has four visitation stories.

In the first visitation story, the Angel Gabriel visited Zechariah and told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son. Elizabeth, who had not been able to have children, was now too old to have babies. Zechariah, doubting this could happen, was struck dumb. But with God, everything is possible! Elizabeth became pregnant with John the Baptist.

In the second visitation story, the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear a son, even thought she did not know man and was perhaps too young to conceive a baby. Mary said, "Let it be done to me according to your will." With God, all things are possible! Mary became pregnant with Jesus.

In today's gospel reading, there are two visitations: unborn Jesus meets unborn John for the first time, as Mary visits Elizabeth.

Stop and think of what is happening! God is about to break into our world. To do so, God picks a young virgin, from a no-where town, that the prophet Micah refers to as insignificant Bethlehem.

Why did God pick two women to initiate his plan for breaking into our world? You couldn't get much lower in those days than to be women in a patriarchal society in which men owned women. They had no rights. They were Jews under Roman occupation, and peasants in a land of plenty.

God ushers in hope for us through those who are vulnerable in society. God became human and, in doing so, came down to the insignificant nation Israel. Godís life was one of becoming increasingly insignificant to the point of suffering death on a cross. This is quite a contrast to the increasing significance that many of us seek!

 We get a clearer sense of God bringing hope to the vulnerable when we fast-forward in the Gospel of Luke to the beatitudes of Chapter 6. Jesus gives the Sermon on the Plain to his disciples telling them who are the blessed of this world. Jesus is interested in the

• insignificant
• the poor
• the merciful
• the hungry of body and soul
• the makers of peace
• the pure
• those passionate and persecuted on behalf of others.

This is how God comes: to the small of the earth, the minorities, the lowly, the ones we would never think to listen to or notice much.

We must ask ourselves where we stand with the so-called illegal, sinners, expendable, and unwanted, whether they are unborn, poor, feared, or condemned to death.

This last Sunday of Advent reminds us of the necessity of obeying like Mary, of lending our bodies to God so that Jesus might enter our worlds. Once he does, then we must bring Godís hospitality to others. After all, we are the disciples of Jesus today.

How do we serve those in need, those for whom Jesus cared so much? If Jesus visited them, it should be obvious what we, his disciples, should do.

I have great personal concern for the vulnerable because one of my three ministries, as a deacon, is the ministry of love and justice. At this time in my life, I bring communion and friendship to people in assisted living and nursing homes and to the homebound. I also support, in various ways, a Social Ministries Board, of which my wife is a member.

The Holy Spirit continually nags the visitation part of my conscience. I am very impressed and at the same time feel certain guilt when parishioners tell me their visitation stories. I thank them for being such great models of Christ for me. Here are some of their visitation stories.
 

• There is a man who takes clothes and food to the American Indians of Western Oklahoma. He also makes connections between our archdiocesan priests and bishops in third-world countries in order to establish missions.

• There is a lady and man who take communion to prisoners in the maximum-security unit at Mable Basset Correctional Center for women in OKC. They recently expanded their ministry by training a friend to take communion to the minimum-security unit.

• Other people work the ministry of Kairos on weekends in prisons around the state. This ministry brings Christ's love to prisoners, many of whom have never experienced love in their lives.There are two ladies who have pen pals on death row at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Through much prayer to gather courage, now these ladies visit their pen pals.

• Finally, a group of over 100 people supports a mission in Peru to the poorest of the poor. Groups of high school students and adults visit the mission to serve their building, medical, and dental needs. Each person returns home completely changed. They cannot tell anyone what they have experienced for about a week until they are able to process the total poverty of the mission compared to how they live here in the metro area.

We all have a nagging feeling about what we are being called to doóto whom we are being called to visit. Our concern for the vulnerable must propel us into movement, into action on a personal level and as a community of believers.

When do we begin to put our calling into practice? The Christian life is a journey that calls us to make visits. However, if we wait for great strength before setting out, our immobility will weaken us further. We must not wait to see very clearly before starting; we must walk toward the light.

God burst into our world through visitations at the bottom of society.  Now he is counting on us to visit these people. For it is through them that we encounter Christ.