On this most solemn and sacred of days, the day in which the Church remembers the violent death of Her Spouse and Lord, we are accustomed to the Passion narratives (in the West) \u00a0and the lengthy and ornate funeral procession (in the East). \u00a0But today marks not only the death of the only truly innocent man to walk the earth, but also the death of the first saint of the Church. \u00a0No, I don\u2019t mean Jesus, God is far above the saints, I mean Dismas. \u00a0Also known as Titus, Zoatham, Demas, and Rach, depending on which tradition of naming you come from, he is most commonly remembered simply as The Repentant Thief.<\/p>\n
In St. Luke\u2019s account of the Passion, while one of the criminals being crucified with Christ takes this most horrible torment as a chance to mock the Lord. \u00a0The other criminal however rebukes the first and admits to the\u00a0grievous fault which he has committed. \u00a0Then, having done this, he begs Christ to \u201cremember me when you come in your Kingdom.\u201d \u00a0Christ\u2019s response to this humble plea of a man who is being executed for the horrible life he has led is rather telling of the true mission of Christ. \u00a0\u201cAmen, I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right, Jesus just told this guy, a total stranger until now, who has committed such horrible crimes as to warrant his execution, that he will be with Him in Paradise.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No canonization process necessary, this one\u2019s just stated plainly by Christ Himself.<\/p>\n
Why is this important? \u00a0Because for eons the venerable saints of the Church have been reminding us time and again to follow the directive of Christ who said, \u201ctake up your cross and follow me.\u201d \u00a0And St. Dismas is a man who did just that, he bore the cross upon which he would die and followed close behind the Lord. \u00a0And in the end, he is said to have managed one final theft in his life; he is the thief who stole Paradise.<\/p>\n
In the end, we can only hope to do the same. \u00a0For we will suffer a great deal in our lives, all of us. \u00a0And in the midst of this suffering, we can either recognize our faults which brought it about, or we can mock God, who suffers with us. \u00a0However, if we turn to the Lord who suffers innocently along with us, recognize those evils which have driven us to this place of suffering, and like The Thief profess to the Lord: \u00a0\u201cRemember me, O Lord, when You shall come into your kingdom. \u00a0Remember me, O Master, when You shall come into your kingdom. \u00a0Remember me, O Holy One, when You shall come into your kingdom,\u201d \u00a0then maybe we too will be lucky enough to steal Paradise, as we cannot say that any of us deserve it by our own merits and deeds. \u00a0For it is every Christian\u2019s goal to hear the words:\u00a0\u201cThis day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On this most solemn and sacred of days, the day in which the Church remembers the violent death of Her Spouse and Lord, we are accustomed to the Passion narratives (in the West) \u00a0and the lengthy and ornate funeral procession (in the East). \u00a0But today marks not only the death of the only truly innocent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,19,9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-death","category-scripture","category-tradition"],"yoast_head":"\n