the anointing
By Sister Lou Ella Hickman, IWBS - Corpus Christi, Texas, USA - 1 March 2014
when grief as priest
marks you as its own
-with the sacrament of ash
so that an inward sign of an outward grace
-and graciousness
----------might rise out of its arid but fertile soil
-----------how unlike Cain who could not bear his sorrow
----------you will know the Real Presence among all things
-----------------and with all things
------------------share their fragility