One of my pleasures this year was to ‘discover’ the works of Anglican priest-poet Malcolm Guite. Here he writes on today’s feast from “Sounding the Seasons”, his sequence of 70 sonnets following the course of the Church’s year. Learn more about him at malcolmguite.wordpress.com

Our King is calling from the hungry furrows
Whilst we are cruising through the aisles of plenty, Our hoardings screen us from the man of sorrows, Our soundtracks drown his murmur: “I am thirsty.” He stands in line to sign in as a stranger
And seek a welcome from the world he made,
We see him only as a threat, a danger,
He asks for clothes, we strip-search him instead. And if he should fall sick then we take care
That he does not infect our private health,
We lock him in the prisons of our fear
Lest he unlock the prison of our wealth.
But still on Sunday we shall stand and sing
The praises of our hidden Lord and King.

Malcolm Guite “Sounding the Seasons”, Canterbury Press 2012