Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier and a deeply committed Christian who lived in France in the fourth century. The story has it that early one winter morning he was met by a beggar who was shivering and blue from the cold. Without hesitation Martin took off his army cloak and wrapped it around the beggar's shoulders. That night he had a dream. In it he saw a vast multitude gathered in heaven and Jesus stood among them, clad in a Roman army cloak. One of the angels asked, "Lord, where did you get that Roman army cloak?" Jesus answered softly, "My servant Martin gave it to me."

This Advent Jesus stands among us, although disguised. If you turn away the addict, the beggar, the elderly, the lonely, the refugee, or the powerless, you may be turning away Jesus. To meet your neighbor or a stranger at the level of his or her need is to meet Jesus. It is possible that the highest and the holiest come to us in the least and lowest.