First reading
Song of Songs 3.1-4a
The bride speaks of her beloved: Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
So I said to myself, “I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves.”
I sought him, but found him not. The sentinels found me, as they went about in the city. I asked, “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves.
or
2 Corinthians 5.14-17
The love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view. Even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!