Lent II

It will no longer do to hide,

To cover, to conceal,

To pretend to be building anything

Except a house of sin

Over a cellar of disordered love.

Only the bare bones can stay now

In mercy's clearing...

While still there is a recognizable heart,

Boneclean barrenness alone

Can look to spring.

--"Winterset" by Gervase Toelle, O. Carm. (1921-1967)

Lent

"Love ... commands only those who consent. Love is abdication. God is abdication." -- Simone Weil

"When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you not appear to be fasting, except to your Father, who is hidden." (Matthew 6:18)