35 My Monologues with the Foot-Washing Lord and Master (Jn13)

35 My Monologues with the Foot-Washing Lord and Master (Jn 13)  


Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' , 
That was your last evening! 
An evening with a heart so heavy, 
An evening with a mind so steady, 
An evening of precisely planned events, 
An evening of emotion filled moments, 
An evening made of eternal memories! 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' , 
That was an evening of your self-giving!
An evening of yearning to offer yourself, 
An evening of sharing your body and blood,
As food and drink for us to have Life eternal
An evening of Breaking the Bread of Life
An evening of blessing the Cup of Covenant

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master', 
That was an evening of soulfully sad events,
That was evening of your Last Supper, 
Of Everlasting Legacy of Eucharistic Love, 
That was an evening of eating the Bread, 
An evening of drinking off the Cup.   
Thus an evening of the New Covenant. 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master', 
That was an evening of Forgiveness of sins 
starting from Peter to this prodigal priest. 
Though I have supped with you several times, I have sinned against you many more times and you have forgiven me
Seven times, seventy times seven times! 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' , 
You have been immensely patient with me, 
Patient with the cocky confident Peter in me
Patient with the cheeky shrewd Judas in me
Patient with the poky proud Pharisee in me
Patient with the greedy smart Zebedees in me, you have been very patient with me. 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master', 
Whenever I failed like your disciples, 
You have been immensely patient with me, 
You kept on forgiving me over and again. 
Thank you, my Lord and Master, thank you!
Whenever I supped with you while in sinful state, you did not make it my last supper! 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master', 
You have not only been patient with me, 
You have washed my feet over and over, 
Despite knowing that I have been acting 
the roles of the Pharisee, the Peter, the Judas,the Zebedees, the merciless Servant, 
You have kept on and on washing my feet! 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' 
You had  been repeatedly washing my feet
Hoping, someday, I would turn my life around and begin to wash other's feet. 
You keep on reminding me to follow the rarest of the rare example you have set 
by washing the feet your feeble disciples! 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' 
You know it by now, don't you? 
that it's just against my grains as a priest 
to wash another's feet, especially those of someone below me in age, in academics. 
that it's just against my grains as a pastor to wash the feet of the flocks entrusted. 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' 
You know it by now, don't you? 
that it's just against my grains as a teacher
to wash the feet the pupils I teach.
It makes it worse when a vast majority of
whom I am supposed to serve are 
more than willing to dance to my tune! 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master', 
It's much easier and more natural for me
to get served rather than to serve. 
to get my feet washed than to wash others. 
That's is often the way with me, right? 
But you have deliberately and decisively 
a kind of 'counter witnessed' it, Didn't you? 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' , 
It's a constant struggle and real difficult 
to resist my almost innate instinct 
to look for and even to demand to be served and to be attended to my needs 
and fancies than to attend to others. 
You know me inside out, don't you, Lord? 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master', 
I have yet to be humble  and learn:

to wash the feet of a Peter in my life, 
to wash the feet of  Martha in my life, 
to wash the feet of a Judas in my life, 
to wash the feet of a Mary in my life, 
to wash the feet of a Zebedee in my life, 
to wash the feet of a Martha in my life, 
to wash feet of of a Thomas in my life, 
to wash the feet of a Mary in my life, 
to wash the feet of a Zealot in my life, 
to wash the feet of Sam. Woman in my life, 
to wash the feet of Zacchaeus in my life, 
to wash the feet of my parents and siblings, 
to wash the feet of my Confreres, 
to wash the feet of my fellow priests. 

Dear Foot-Washing 'Lord and Master' 
I want to wash the feet of all who helped me, of all who harmed me, of all who lead me astray , of all whom I have lead astray. 
Help us to wash one another's feet! 

Oh,  My Lord and My God! 
Thanks You, for eternity for keep washing my feet over and over,  all through my life! 
Oh, My Lord and My God, I want to spend some time in silence, in your presence! 
Thanking You, 
My Lord and My God! 
Amen
JoAchen 
Saturday, 28th March, 2015
joachenmonologues@gmail.com 


Facebook:
My Monologues 
Joe Monologues 
Blog :
www.my-monologoues.blogspot.in 

PS
Dear Reader, 
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are my devotional meditations mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth. They are a part of my, 'Prodigal Priest's' journaling on my Pilgrimage to the Home of our Heavenly Father. You are welcome to share them. 
Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours. 

I plan on uploading a Reflection each on 7th, 14th, 21st, and on the 28th of every month. If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.
Thank you! 
My  Lord and My God!


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

34 My Monologues with Jesus of Hosanna (Mt 21,Mk11,Lk 19,Jn 21)

34 My Monologues with Jesus and Crowd on Hosanna Day(Mt 21, Mk11, Lk 19, Jn 12)

Dear Jesus of Hosanna

It was a very spontaneous outpouring of acclamation, of joy, of celebration of the simple, ordinary folks as they sang and shouted,

"Hosanna, Son of David!

Blessed is who comes in the name of the Lord!"

" Hosanna in the highest!"

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

Didn't you feel that it was like an on the spot, hurriedly put together sort of a victory parade as the crowd swelled with waving of olive branches, and 'red carpeting' the path with their tunics and shawls there accepting you as their royal ruler and their Messianic Deliverer?

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

When you heard them singing joyfully the psalms of royal processions which reminds them of their nostalgic times of the great Kings like David and Solomon, didn't you too feel elated and ecstatic?

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

When the joyous and jubilant crowd seems to proclaim their yearning for the imminent coming of the long awaited Royal Messianic Ruler, didn't you feel the pulse of a people so helpless yet hopeful?

Most probably they have entertained themselves thoughts on the following lines, right, Jesus?

"Finally, we have someone who just  fits into our long awaited Messiah who has the guts and the gumption to take on the oppressors and deliver us and our Jewish Nation from the humiliating, dictatorial, and despotic pagan Roman Rulers as well as from those of our Jewish Kings and brethren who are seditious and Fifth Columnists and who keep helping to prop up and perpetuate the oppressive regime of the Romans."

They might have continued to think,  

"Here is Someone who has the divine power to feed us with miraculous multiplication of fish and bread."

"Here is someone mighty enough to give the marching orders to the demons to leave the people who had been possessed by them."

They might have also toyed with the thoughts  like,

"Here is someone who has the mythological healing powers to cure our sick, along, the maimed and even has the power to raise the dead."

"Here is the Someone who is able to walk on the waters and calm a stormy sea....."

The ordinary folks could have thought of Jesus something on similar lines, right, Jesus?

It was neither a staged managed nor a prearranged show to garner support for you.

You too must have been overjoyed and  thrilled to experience the spontaneous affection of those people, right? For a moment, it must have warmed the cockles of your heart, right?

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

Humbly yet daringly, I long and love to imagine about the possible thoughts that were revolving in your mind as a human being in the following lines.

I know for certain you will patiently pardon my pride!

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

You might  have thought something like,

"It makes me so joyfully happy and forget everything for a moment. I just love the spontaneity of these ordinary people. I am deeply touched by it. When I see their eternal hope and undying yearning for the Messianic Deliverer and Rulers, I feel just one with them."

"But I just can neither dance to their tunes nor fulfill their expectations to be a political Messiah which they would love to have me do and become their King or Ruler. I just can't provide the leadership to organize a political revolt to overthrow the Romans."

"I do understand their yearning for a political Messiah. How I wish they could understand my views and vision of a Messiah solely on a Spiritual Domain!"

"I know of and feel the oppression they are under and the lording them over by the pagan Rulers.Yeti just deviate fro the path I have chosen and I have been  destined."

"I also know, in five days or so more or less the same crowd who joyfully sing Hosanna will easily be persuaded to clamor for my blood and to crucify me!

How easy to get them sway their opinion."

"Yet I don't hate them or hold any ill-fittings towards them."

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

You didn't want to ride on a horseback like any earthly Kings of this world!

You deliberately chose a donkey, a beast of burden and thus made clear your vision of the Messiah!

In a similar situation,  I would have yealeded to the wishes of the crowd and offered them to be their Political Messiah. And I would have furnished a hundred and one reasons to justify myself!

That's me, Jesus!

Under pressure and persuasion I could easily  be swayed.

That's  me,  Jesus!

As I look back,  I have been swayed so often.

From singing Hosanna to you,  I have changed into clamoring to crucify you!

That's  me,  Jesus!

But you have been patient  with me all along,  right?

Thank you, Jesus,  

for not giving up on me!

Thank you  Jesus,

for your patience with me!

Thank you  Jesus,  

for giving me time and opportunities to change and grow!

Dear Jesus,

I want to keep on singing

Hosanna to you,  for the rest of  my life!

Dear Jesus of Hosanna,

I would like to spend some time in Silence in your presence...

And keep singing

Hosanna to you,  Jesus!

Amen

JoAchen

Saturday, 21st March, 2015

joachenmonologues@gmail.com

Facebook:
My Monologues

Joe Monologues
Blog :
www.my-monologoues.blogspot.in

PS
Dear Reader,
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are my devotional meditations mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth. They are a part of my, 'Prodigal Priest's' journaling on my Pilgrimage to the Home of our Heavenly Father. You are welcome to share them.
Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours.

I plan on uploading a Reflection each on 7th, 14th, 21st, and on the 28th of every month. If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.

Thank you!

My  Lord and My God!

33 My Monologues with Jesus and Nicodemus symbolized as Light and Darkness (Jn 3,7,19)

33 My Monologues with Jesus and Nicodemus symbolized as Light and Darkness(Jn 3, 7,19)

Dear Jesus, the Light,

Your close friend and favorite disciple, John loved to introduce and present you as the Light that came into a world which was in darkness.

You are the "true Light which gives light to every man."

But "men loved darkness rather than light."

Dear Jesus, the Light,

Remember, before the creation of the universe, it was all formless, void, as well as dark, right?

The very first thing, your Father along with Yourself and the Spirit did was to utter the

All Powerful Word,

"Let there be light."!

The creation of light and setting it apart from darkness was a necessary prerequisite for the rest of creation account, right?

So thought the God Almighty, Didn't He?

In the fullness of time, as you came into this world, your favorite disciple, John, so aptly introduces you to us as the Light that shines in the darkness.

Yet sadly, many a humans neither acknowledged you, nor accepted you, nor allowed you to announce your Good News freely.  Instead, they preferred to perceive you as real and serious threat to their own selfish, vested interests, and thus they chose to remain in the darkness of sin.

They loved to be lulled in the lap of darkness of their own false sense of security.  

Remember, it started even as you were less than a two year old Infant Babe, Don't you?

Dear Jesus, the Light,

Often enough, I am no different from them.

In fact, I am one of their modern versions.

I guess it's a part of our human nature which we, humans, need to keep constantly on the leash, right, Lord?

As I look back at the last sixty plus years of my life, many a times I have stubbornly shunned your Light and your message and instead I have often sheltered my selfish ego in the darkness of sloth and sin.

Dear Jesus, the Light,

I have to keep on reminding myself that your Light was lit in me at the very moment I was divinely given my embryonic existence in close unison with parents.

The Light was lit in me in the form of the "Image and Likeness."

Subsequently the flame of your Light was strengthened at my baptism.

You want me to emanate your Light through my little life.

You keep reminding me,

"you are the light of the world." "and your light shine."

You want this light in me to shine through my witnessing, right?

Dear Jesus, the Light,

Whenever I have kept the flame of your Light burning bright and alive in me, I have felt strong in my struggles.

And whenever I just let it barely burn, I have faltered and fallen.

Dear Jesus, the Light,

Even when I was in darkness, you kept on accepting me and waiting for me to come back to the Light.  Remember, you accepted Nicodemus, the elderly scholar and and a learned judge who came to you secretly sneaking through darkness of the night.

Yet you accepted him as he stood in the darkness of his ignorance despite being the pundit of the Jewish Law!

How ironically paradoxical it is!

Dear Jesus, the Light,

Yet your approach to him was with an open and unprejudiced attitude.

You appealed to his ignorant heart

and nudged him to emerge out of the darkness.

Your patient and persevering handling of the elderly Nicodemus helped him to be born again and thereby transform himself into a child of light!

Later on, in broad daylight, he stood up in official gathering of the Sanhedrin and argued for you and for defense you!

No more sneaking under cover of darkness of the night!

He kept on his light shining!

What a transformation, indeed!

How i wish to be transformed like Nicodemus despite his advanced age!

He kept on his light shining ever brighter even at the darkest hour in Calvary!

Dear Venerable Nicodemus,

Rare indeed are persons like you!

Your personal pilgrimage from Darkness to Light is so impressive and irreversible!

As you realized yourself being in darkness, you had the courage and commitment to come out of darkness and to accept the light from the Light Divine!

Dear Jesus, the Light,

It makes me ashamed of myself as  nowhere near to Nicodemus in his courage and commitment to come out the darkness I often find myself. After being a priest for forty plus years, I am yet to turn around!

Sure, I snap out of the darkness now and experience the warmth of your light, but then I keep falling right back into it!

Unlike Nicodemus, I don't make much headway!

Though I have all external trappings of piety, religiosity, and spiritual growth, internally I am often far away from you and far behind others in my pursuit of spiritual growth and personal maturity. I earnestly want to be steady in my struggles to grow.

Dear Jesus, the Light,

I like very much to spend sometime in silence in your Light-filled presence.

Oh,  dear Jesus, the Light,

"From Darkness to Light,"

"Lead me on....."

"Lead kindly light, lead me on...  

Amen

JoAchen

Saturday, 14th March, 2015

Joachenmonologues@gmail.com

Facebook:
My Monologues

Joe Monologues
Blog :
www.my-monologoues.blogspot.in

PS
Dear Reader,
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are my devotional meditations mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth. They are a part of my, 'Prodigal Priest's' journaling on my Pilgrimage to the Home of our Heavenly Father. You are welcome to share them.
Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours.

I plan on uploading a Reflection each on 7th, 14th, 21st, and on the 28th of every month. If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.

Thank you!

My  Lord and My God!

32 My Monologues with an Angry Jesus in the Temple (Jn 2)

32My Monologues with an Angry           Jesus in the Temple (Jn 2)

Dear Jesus,

Though initially quite a bit shocking, in a sense, it makes me real happy to see you visibly angry and unusually upset!

Because, it shows:

You are real human "in every way that we are, except without sin."

You had genuinely experienced and spontaneously expressed a variety of emotions like happiness and Joy,  sadness and sorrow, compassion and kindness, anxiety and anger, right?

Dear Jesus,

You were really happy in the company of little children, Weren't you?

You felt compassion for the hungry,  for the sick, and for the bereaved, Didn't you?

You wept over the death of your friend, Didn't you?

You got angry on several occasions with your hand picked disciples,

Didn't you?

You vehemently vent your anger at the Pharisees and used all sorts harsh words like, "hypocrites", "white washed tombs", "brood of vipers"  "blind fools" etc. Didn't you?

You were mad at the money changers and merchants in the Temple Complex, Weren't you?

Emotions galore!

Typical of any human being! right?

Dear Jesus,

Of all the emotions, the emotion of anger is real confusing as it has acquired a very negative coloring.

At home, as kids we were always told not to get angry, not to shout or not to yell at anyone especially not to get angry with adults, elders, and with those in authority. We were told that it was unbecoming of good children to do so!

But at the same time, the adults, the elders, the teachers, the pastors and many of those in authority went about venting their anger freely!

Somehow,it began to settle in my mini mind that it's OK for these grown ups of every sort to get angry at almost every opportunity with hardly any effort to control themselves.

But we children the minors, and the underdogs shouldn't!

So anger is bad and forbidden for some, right?

Dear Jesus,

Yet a step further: in the Sunday School as well as during the preparation for the First Communion we were told and taught that Anger is one of the Seven Capital / Deadly Sins and we were told to confess them if we had gotten angry.

So anger is not only bad and forbidden, but also sinful, right?

Then, from the Bible reading and from the Bible Classes, we come to learn about your anger, particularly about your outbursts in the Temple as well as towards the Pharisees.

Once again my adolescent mind often  toyed and tinkered with the unthinkable i. e,

how could Jesus our Savior ever get angry because anger was considered and thought of as one of those Capital Sins?

Weren't we taught so in the Sunday Schools?

Dear Jesus,

For a moment, it seemed you sinned by getting angry, right?

It was very confusing for an adolescent mind!

Son of God seems to sin!

Oh,  No, Impossible!

Somewhere something seems to go wrong and I too got it wrong, right?

Dear Jesus, you are, "in every way that we are, except without sin."

At the same time, Paul your Apostle keeps telling us,

"Be angry, but do not sin."

He seems to suggest one can be angry without sinning!

Dear Apostle Paul,

Thank you, for telling us and for informing us that one can get angry without sinning!

Dear Jesus,

That's what you must have done, right?

Sure, you felt very angry over the misuse and abuse of your Father's House.

Sure, you made a very dramatic show of your displeasure and anger by turning their table and chasing the money changers.

Sure, you meant to scare them away through your very dramatic swirling and swishing of the whip in your hand!

But did you really mean to whip them physically and hurt them?

Could you have even ever wished so?

Could you have ever done so?

Didn't you advise "to show the other cheek"?

Didn't you order Peter "to put your sword back into the sheath"?

If so, you could never ever physically hurt anyone, right?

No way!

But at the same time, you did want to make an impact by dramatically exhibiting your anger and thereby offering them an opportunity to mend their erring ways, right?

How effectively you dealt with them and handled the situation!

At the same time, you were not naive enough to assume, ever since your dramatic intervention the malpractice had ceased to continue, right?

You didn't make it a prestige issue and return the next day to the same Temple Precincts to see whether they are back and if so, you could chase them and reinforce the ban, right?

You were not stubborn to do so which would have been very selfish from your part, right?

You did neither verbally abuse the money-changers nor physically assault them so as to have your views and ways at any cost.

How well intentioned and balanced you had been!

Dear Jesus,

I would have gone to any possible length to enforce my views.

Probably, I would have verbally abused them in very dehumanizing ways.

That's what I do very often with my opponents!

I do often very effectively hit my opponents below their belt and just to make them feel ashamed as well as miserable!

Dear Jesus,

In hindsight, when I had been angry and have lost my temper, I had done it with a selfish motive under the garb of an apparent altruistic reason!

Though, fortunately, i have physically assaulted no one, emotionally as well as verbally, I have hurt and assaulted many of my fellow sisters and brothers. My tongue, at times, had been much sharper than many a kitchen knives and my verbal abusive blows had been much harder than many a physical blows!

I feel sorry for having verbally abused and dehumanized my opponents.

Dear Jesus,

Though you have gotten angry on several occasions, you were neither hateful nor revenge filled.  

My anger, many a times, had a tinge of revenge and retaliation.

My emotion of anger often has ended up in denting and damaging and intending, at least partially, to destroy the self image of my opponents!

Often my angry outbursts had been more of confrontations of egos and less of a clash of issues or ideas.

Looking back, I have hurt many through my uncontrolled outbursts.

Dear Jesus,

I bring before you all those fellow sisters and brothers who have been the victims of my anger and outbursts.

I also bring along my contrite heart seeking forgiveness from them as well as from you.

I forgive over and again all those who have  been angry with me.

Bless them and me with your healing touch.

Dear Jesus,

Though my angry outbursts have been on the decline, what goes on within myself  is my indirect ways of  expressing my anger, such as:

I do indirectly avenge those with whom I am angry, by engaging in gossips about them. Outwardly, I may appear to be very polite and polished in my dealings with them, indirectly I do my best to damage their name and fame by gossiping about them.

Another of my favorite way of getting  even and angry is through complaining about the ones I am angry with.

Yet another of my pet ways of expressing my anger indirectly is through passive aggressive ways without uttering a single angry word!

Oh,  boy,  I am an expert on it!

Dear Jesus, as you know these indirect ways of getting angry are often very effective, it has either delayed or even stunted my spiritual as well as personal growth.

My resentments which are the net result of my unexpressed, suppressed, repressed, and unsolved anger have played havoc in my human relationships, in my spiritual growth, and above all in my relationship with you!

More than a anyone else, you know it,

Don't you?

Dear Jesus,

As I inch towards the evening of my life-pilgrimage, I want keep on cleaning up those sediments of frozen resentments and unexpressed hurts and anger.

I want to place them before you....

I want start every day anew...

Dear Jesus,

You have ample enough reasons to be angry with me and to chase me out.

Yet your steadfast, forgiving, and forbearing love has been following me like a shadow!

Thanks you, Jesus,

My Lord and my God!

Dear Jesus, I would love to spend some time in silence in your loving and forgiving Presence!

Amen

JoAchen

Saturday, 7th March, 2015

joachenmonologues@gmail.com

prayers and I request you to include me in yours.

I plan on uploading a Reflection each on 7th, 14th, 21st, and on the 28th of every month. If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.

Thank you!

My  Lord and My God!