Sabihin mo sa akin, ikaw na inibig ng aking kaluluwa

(Origen, mula sa unang Homilia ukol sa Awit ng mga Awit)

“Sabihin mo sa akin, Ikaw na inibig ng aking kaluluwa,
saan ka ba kumakain, saan humihimlay sa tanghaling tapat?” (Awit 1: 7)

Sapagkat kung hindi mo sasabihin sa akin,
magpapalaboy-laboy ako, at iaanod paroon at parito
samantalang hinahanap ka,
kung saan saan tatakbo at hahabulin ang kung sino-sino,
at sapagkat hinihiya nila ako,
tatakpan ko ang aking mukha at bibig ng belo.
Ngunit ang totoo, ako ang magandang ikakasal
at sa Iyo ko lamang ipinakikita ang aking mukha,
ikaw na matamis kong hinahalikan, maliban ngayon.

“Sabihin mo sa akin, Ikaw na inibig ng aking kaluluwa,
saan ka ba kumakain, saan humihimlay sa tanghaling tapat?”

“Baka hindi ko mapigilang magpagala-gala nang may belo doon sa may mga kasama mo.”
At upang huwag kong sapitin ang mga ito
—upang hindi ko kailanganing magtakip o magtago,
at sa pakikihalubilo sa iba, ay baka magpaubaya rin sa hindi ko naman nababatid,
nagsusumamo akong sabihin mo
kung saan kita hahagilapin at matatagpuan sa tanghaling tapat,
“Baka hindi ko mapigilang magpagala-gala nang may belo doon sa may mga kasama mo.”

-Sinalin sa San Jose Seminary, 10 Enero 2011

* * *

Tell Me, You Whom My Soul Has Loved
(Origen, from Homily 1 on the Canticle of Canticles)

“Tell me, You whom my soul has loved,
where You feed, where You lie in the midday?” (Cant 1: 7)

For unless You tell me,
I shall begin to be a vagrant, driven to and fro;
while I am looking for You, I shall begin to run after other people’s flocks.
and, because these other people make me feel ashamed,
I shall begin to cover my face and my mouth,
I am the beautiful bride in sooth,
and I bare not my face to any but You only,
whom I kissed tenderly but now.

“Tell me, You whom my soul has loved,
where You feed, where You lie in the midday?” (Cant 1: 7)

“Lest I have to go veiled beside the flocks of Your companions”
That I suffer not these things—that I need not to go veiled or hide my face,
that, mixing with others, I run not the risk
of beginning to love also them whom I know not—tell me, therefore,
where I may seek You and find You in the midday,
“Lest I have to go veiled beside the flocks of Your companions.”

A Prayer for Epiphany

Christ,
desire of our longing,
seeking, sojourning hearts,
it is in finding you that we discover
what alone can fill
our deepest and truest longings.

And so we kneel down and offer you
the homage of our love, of our dreams,
of our deepest, truest selves.

We open before you
the humble treasure chest of our hearts
and lay before your tiny, newborn feet
the gold of all we hold dear,
the incense of all we are grateful for,
and the myrrh of all our struggles and pains.

Our Emmanuel,
every day is an epiphany
and you surprise us by being
in the most humble and unexpected places, persons and things in our lives.
Help us to find you in our seeking you,
to love you in our finding you,
and to open ourselves generously
in our loving you.

With Mary and Joseph,
we hope to remain always with you,
beholding your smile,
being warmed by your breath,
feeling your smooth, gentle palm
in our own rough, calloused and worn-out hands.

As we go from here,
we ask you to remain with us,
for in truth,
the house where we find you waiting for us
lies not far from where we are,
not even outside of our selves,
but in the deepest core of our hearts.

In our daily longing,
and in all our seeking,
may we find ourselves sojourning
to that home within our hearts
where we find you and where you find us
with silent yet no less glorious epiphanies.

Lord our love,
let our hearts be always mangers
not too poor
to receive you
and to keep you.

Amen.