Dismas

LECTIO:    Luke:    23:42-43

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."

STUDIUM:    

It has always fascinated me that a convicted criminal is the only person who has ever been promised heaven.  Furthermore, Dismas didn't say he was sorry!  Obviously, it was his faith that saved him; he recognized Jesus as the Messiah.
    There is an unsubstantiated legend that circulated in Medieval times, known as "Arabic Gospel of the Infancy." This narrative tells the story of a band of robbers holding up the Holy Family on their flight into Egypt.  The Holy Family didn't look like they would be rich pickings, especially since they traveled quick and light.  But upon finding the gifts of the Magi, the robbers were given pause.  One of this brigand, was Dismas.  He knew what these gifts signified and talked his partners in crime, into letting the Holy Family go on without harassment.  Dismas recognized the Messiah, just as he would hanging on the cross.  Dismas, the legend tells us, said:

O most blessed of children, if ever a time should come when I 

should crave Thy mercy, remember me and forget not what

has passed this day.

MEDITATIO:

Lord, I know there are many non-canonical gospels and that they are rejected by Your Holy Church.  But the story of Dismas robbing Your family, is a good one.  That You, Jesus, brought him into heaven with You, well that's true Gospel. That's the best story.
    This gives me hope. My sins may not be Dismas' but I am an unworthy sinner.  I pray my faith, like Dismas', will save me.

ORATIO:

Lord Jesus, I love You, help me to love You more and love others as You love them.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Agape love is not based on emotions but on the Will.  I will to love You more and more.

RESOLUTIO:

I resolve to treasure Jesus above all things and people.

The Burden of the Past

 We should live in the present.  We can't do anything about the past; it's done.  The future might not even happen, so why worry about it?

That's easy to say but if your past is horrendous, how can you forget it?  If you had a terrible childhood, it's hard to rise above it.  Think if you had a terrible childhood and you murdered your abuser.  How could you rise above it?

I am thinking specifically of my "cloistered brothers."  The scenario I described is not unusual.  Many of my "cloistered brothers" had terrible childhoods and they did go on to do terrible things.  

Yet, God tells us to have hope.  The Catholic Church offers us the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 1 John 1:9,  If you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Psalm 103: 10-13 tells us that God's merciful forgiveness is as wide as the east is to the west. 

Ephesians 1: 7-8,  "In Him we. have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins..." 

You can't forget the past but you have to try to deal with it in such a manner that you trust that God is beside you and helping you.  You can't fix what happened.  You need to not let that sin happen again.  You have to learn to be stronger.  Use the past to grow into a better person.

Concentrate on the future.  Be a better person.  Concentrate on getting to heaven.  Remember the criminal crucified with Jesus.  Jesus forgave him and told him that he would be with Him in heaven.  You can too.

A Sign of My Faith

Since my RCIA class was finished early, I dropped by my Protestant friend, Steve's scripture class. They were faith sharing.  The passage was Matt. 20: 1-16, commonly known as the Laborers in the Vineyard.

If you're not using your eyes of faith, but only the eyes of the world, you would slap the owner of the vineyard with an unfair labor practices lawsuit.  But God sees differently and he loves everyone and gives generously.

The parable is meant to give hope.  The believer who professes belief, (like St. Dismas), in his last breath, has every right to be in heaven as the cradle believer.

I added my two cents to the class.  We ended in prayer and I made sure I made the sign of my faith--I blessed myself with the sign of the cross.

Who Am I?

I am the only saint directly canonized by Jesus, Himself.  I was assured of a place in Heaven by Him.  I confessed to Him in an open confessional.  My face was closest to Jesus in His last hours of death than anybody else.  I offered Him words of comfort while He died in agony.  Who am I?

Answer: Dismas

Sunday Morning Reflection

This morning's Morning Prayer's Reading, Acts 10:40-43, had the answer to my question about whether or not the whole world could see the Ascension.  "God raised up Jesus on the third day and granted that he be seen, not by all, but only by such witnesses as had been chosen beforehand by God...".

Am I right in concluding that at Jesus' Second Coming, it will be the same?  Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us.

Father Kevin this morning talked about unity.  He said Jesus' last words were about unity.   

The First Word:
“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”
(Luke 23:34)

The Second Word:
“I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
(Luke 23:43)

The Third Word:
“Dear woman, here is your son.”
(John 19:26)

The Fourth Word:
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
(Mark 15:34)

The Fifth Word:
“I am thirsty.”
(John 19:28)

The Sixth Word:
“It is finished!”
(John 19:30)

The Seventh Word:
“Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!”
(Luke 23:46)

 I don't see anything about unity.  There's lots of important reflections here, but none would be about unity.  Oh well, I probably didn't listen to everything.  Mea culpa.  Mea culpa.

My favorite "last words of Jesus,"  is telling the prisoner that he would be with Jesus in paradise.  A convicted criminal is the only one Jesus promised paradise.  This image should be on a banner for the beatification of Pere Lataste, (Pere Lataste will be beatified in TWO weeks!)

h/t http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-reflections-for-holy-week/