Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B *Alternate* First Reading (No Psalm)

I am black and beautiful,
O daughters of Jerusalem,
like the tents of Kedar,
like the curtains of Solomon.
Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
because the sun has gazed on me.

Black because I’ve been kissed by the sun.
Our Lady is both the sun who kisses
And the one who is kissed.
Our Lady answers to many names:
“She Who is Blest by the Sun.”
“Woman Clothed with the Sun.”

The Word of God recorded in The Song of Solomon, and the words of Clarissa Pinkola Estes.