Letter of April 14, 2006

Jesus, Remember Me
Most Reverend Carl F. Mengeling, Bishop of Lansing
The four accounts of the Passion and Death of Our Lord are an inexhaustible fount of life and holiness. Each segment draws us deeper into the mystery of our salvation. They continue to inspire and transform our lives in Christ.

This reflection is on one of many episodes. First, two questions: Who was the last person to speak to Jesus? Who was the first person to go HOME in paradise with Jesus?

The answer to both - a ‘CONVICTED CRIMINAL’.

This episode of the Passion hit me and came alive for me back in 1985. All of us have surprising and extraordinary spiritual experiences. We never forget them. Indeed we build on them.

It happened on Good Friday during the Veneration of the Cross. As celebrant of the Liturgy, I was first to kiss the Cross. As the congregation of 1,500 slowly processed to the Cross, our choir punctuated the silence of the lengthy Veneration with profound and moving sacred music.

This new music was simply one sentence and was quickly on the lips of everyone. It was the plea of the crucified criminal to Jesus: "Jesus, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom."

It was composed by Jacques Berthier (+1994) and published at Taize.

Only Luke records this conversation between Jesus and this criminal as they hung on the cross. It happens shortly after Jesus spoke one of the Seven Last Words: "Father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing." This is Luke’s account: Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Who is he? No name is given. Matthew and Mark briefly mention "Two insurgents were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left." John merely says: "They crucified him and two others with him."

An ancient tradition calls him DISMAS and adds the Good Thief. Anything we could know or want to is eclipsed by the most significant deed of his life. The plea of this criminal says it all.

He didn’t ask for a miracle. All he asked for was place in Jesus’ memory. He got more than he asked for.

There would be no long wait. It was immediate. Jesus assured him with the definitive ‘AMEN, I say’ that TODAY you will be with me in paradise.

Bishop Sheen (+1979) in his Life of Christ writes: "It was the thief’s last prayer, perhaps even his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything, and found everything. When even the disciples were doubting and only one was present at the Cross, the thief acknowledged Jesus as Savior."

Yes, the first one HOME is a thief, a convicted criminal.

Jesus never rejects any who turn to him. Sometimes we turn to him with little faith and doubt. Our Savior who loves us takes what he can and gives us vastly more than we give him. His response to our faith is greater than our faith.

Like the criminal on the Cross, our faith is akin to ‘desperate hope’.

Remembering the criminal’s plea and Jesus’ response, we too find faith that moves mountains.