The first reading for today is taken from the Song of Songs. This is the only time a passage from this particular book of the Bible is used as one of the lectionary readings — and there is an alternative suggested if you want to avoid even this one time! That the book is in the Bible is somewhat a surprise since it does not mention God. In fact, it is simply an erotic love poem describing a rendez-vous of two lovers. Hark! my lover–here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. Over the centuries this love poem has been used as an analogy of the loving relationship betwen God and an individual person. St. Bernard famously wrote forty plus sermons on the Song of Songs with this theme. What is striking about this analogy is that the lover (God) is portrayed as not above it all but connected with the beloved (the human person) in a mutual relationship. Quite an invitation to our spiritual life!
