Daily Reading for December 29 • Thomas Becket, 1170
The Child we seek
doesn’t need our gold.
On love, on love alone
he will build his kingdom.
His piercéd hand will hold no scepter,
his haloed head will wear no crown;
his might will not be built
on your toil.
Swifter than lightning
he will soon walk among us.
He will bring us new life
and receive our death,
and the keys to his city
belong to the poor.
Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti (G. Schirmer, 1950).