19/4/16 My Monologues & Musings : we have left everything. .. ( Mt 19:27)

19/4/16 My Monologues & Musings : we have left everything. .. ( Mt 19:27)

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Dear Jesus, My Risen Lord,

These words of Peter, the chosen leader of your team prods me to look at them as well as to look into myself.

Yes, in a sense, Peter and the rest of the group did leave behind them their families, loved ones, their nets,  their boats, and what not. .

But it wasn't easy to leave behind:

Their ambitions and their anxieties,

Their desires and their dreams,

Their doubts and their disappointments,

Their fears and their frustrations,

Their failures and forebodings.

Their  betrayals and their guilt feelings.

It took years of struggles assisted by your grace for them to survive and thrive over.

Dear Jesus, My Risen Lord,

As i look into my own life as a senior priest,

True, some fifty plus years ago I left home

To join a Religious congregation as well as

To become a priest which I did.

Today, as you know, I am a senior priest.

But I wonder how far:

Have I left my unbridled ambition and anxieties?

Have I left my selfish desires and my dreams behind?

Have I left my doubts and my disappointments behind?

Have I left my fears and my frustrations behind?

Have I left my failures and my forebodings behind?

Have I left my betrayals and my guilt behind?

Dear Jesus, My Risen Lord,

You know I have still a long way to go,

before I am able to follow you.

I am still struggling indeed!

My failures numerous and enormous indeed!

I know your Forgiving Love and Unfailing Support

Continue to sustain me!

Thank You, Jesus, My Risen Lord,

A Million Thanks!

Dear Jesus, the Risen Lord,
I bring before you:
Everyone of my loved ones.
Everyone of my enemies who were and are.
Everyone who loves as well as hates me.
Everyone whom I love and whom i hate.
Everyone who helps me and who don't.
Everyone whom i have lead astray.
Everyone who is sick and needs healing.
Everyone who is in despair and needs hope.
Every priest who is in need of prayers.
Everyone who has met with me!

Oh, Jesus, My Lord and My God,
I thank You,
I thank the Father,
I thank the Spirit,
For Your Unsolicited gift of life for me!
For Your Uncountable blessings for me!
For Your Unlimited Patience with me!
For Your Untold Forgiveness for me!
For Your Unflinching faith in me!
For Your Unfailing Hope in me!
For Your Unconditional Love of me!
Amen
JoAchen
Joachenmonologues@gmail.com

Tuesday, 19th April 2016

These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are a sort of devotional musings and monologues mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth. They are a part of my journaling….
I am a near seventy year old Pallottine priest from India. I consider myself to be a "prodigal priest in process," trying to make my pilgrimage back to the Home of the Heavenly Father guided by His Son and the Holy Spirit, aided by the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, and inspired by Thomas the Apostle and by Vincenzo Pallotti, "the apostle of Rome." Despite my academic studies in Indian Philosophy (India), Sacred Scriptures(Rome), Psychology (USA) and Teaching and Parish Ministries at home and abroad, I have yet to do a lot more and work on myself much more for my spiritual growth and personal maturity. As I lag behind, I strongly feel the urge and need to grow spiritually and wholistically. I need to start almost every day anew. I keep on counting the innumerable blessings which the Lord keeps showering on me for the last near seventy years and I keep on recounting my manifold sins and failures with a contrite heart.Trying out a semi-secluded way of life, I find myself perched on a Hilltop Shrine. Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my daily prayers and request you to do the same for me.Thank you!