3/16 My Monologues & Musings :
The Grand Old Simon in my life
Oh, God of our Ancestors,
You bring us, your children into this world through our parents. Besides our parents and our siblings, our grandparents do have an important role in our lives.
I consider my to be exceptionally blessed to have had very loving and caring grandparents. After the untimely death of my mother when I was only forty one day old, it was my maternal grandparents who took care of me till I was ten or so years old. Today, in a very special way I am reminded of them. Today is the death anniversary of my grandfather. I used to call him Appa.
Oh, dear loving Appa,
You have given me much love and attention. As a child and as an adolescent boy I grew up with you.
You lavished on me with unconditional love.
You guided me with your gentle but firm parental love. In your presence, I was very sporty and spontaneous. Even when you scolded me you never hurt me neither physically nor emotionally. I knew for certain I had a special place in your heart as I was a motherless child. I remember playing with you. I remember you carrying me on your back. I remember you as an old man in his seventies going around with a walking stick. You grey hair, your boney long face covered with a sparse silvery beard are still ever fresh in my mind.
Oh, dear loving Appa,
Though you died some some fifty two years ago, you continue to be alive in me with some of your inborn qualities like your cheerful attitude, your caring ways for the needy and your spontaneous approach. You were very content and was very kind to the needy. Later on as a minor seminarian when I learned about the Grand Old Simeon you reminded me of him! After having seen the Child Messiah he happily said that he was ready to go. So were you! After having had a happy and content life you were ready to go!
Oh, dear Appa,
I want to be like you growing gracefully old and be content with my life with all its failures and success.
Thank you for all those loving and fun filled memories:
the innumerable short walks we have taken,
the frequent trips we made with your small wooden country boat with a thatched roof over it which was equivalent to a present day car!
the strolls along the banks of the lake where you had your house built.
the sharing of the many meals together.
Above all the memory of the traditional Passover Evening when all the extended family gathered around you and you broke/ cut the Peseha Bread.
Thank you, dear loving Appa for all those childhood memories.
I do continue to cherish them!
Oh, dear loving Appa,
I want to grow gracefully old like you and like the Venerable Simeon and go to the Home of our Heavenly Father.
Oh, dear loving Appa,
I want to grow gracefully old like you and like the Venerable Simeon and go to the Home of our Heavenly Father.
Oh, Jesus, My Lord and My God,
Thank you for providing me a grandfather like my Appa.
Oh, Jesus, My Lord and My God,
I thank you for your :
Unsolicited gift of life for me!
Uncountable blessings for me!
Unlimited Patience with me!
Untold Forgiveness for me!
Unflinching faith in me!
Unfailing Hope in me!
Unconditional Love of me!
Amen
JoAchen
Sunday, 3rd January, 2016
Dear Reader,
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations.They are a part of my journaling of the Prodigal Priest in me as I struggle to return to the Home of our Heavenly Father. As I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours.
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