“Amen, I say to you,—¨today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Behold the power of the impossible.
There was a criminal hanging on a cross. He was naked, with nails driven through His hands and feet. He was alone, abandoned by those who were His friends.
This criminal was charged with undermining governmental authority.
—Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
A criminal, crucified along side other criminals, seditionists, thieves, murderers.
This criminal to whom another criminal, a thief turned and said:
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”—¨
Jesus the criminal who told Pilate:
“My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants (would) be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
Pilate questioned Jesus, looking for an answer in his questions. The answer was given, Pilate ignored it.
The Chief Priests and elders, the soldiers, and the other thief reviled Jesus. They verbally abused Him while he was dying, all looking for a sign, for proof that He was the Messiah, the Christ. Only the cross was given, they looked right at the sign and missed it.
St. Dismas, the —good thief— wasn’t looking for a sign. He didn’t have any questions. He simply asked:
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
The cross is the sign of the impossible.
That God would join His immortality to humanity and offer Himself as a sacrifice, a sacrifice offered in the most horrific way, is impossible. That God who has and is all would deign to love us that much is impossible. That this criminal dying on a cross is our immortal, eternal King and God is impossible.
Yet, we are here.
Yet we kneel and pray in the manner He taught.
Yet we build churches and spread His Gospel.
My friends, brothers and sisters,
We are impossible. Our mere existence as a people of faith and our acceptance of all this is impossible.
But St. Paul tells us:
Let us give thanks to the Father,—¨who has made you fit to share—¨in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. —¨He delivered us from the power of darkness—¨and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,—¨in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Today we celebrate this Solemnity. We look into the eyes of our public servants, our government, our employers, our families and say, this criminal, on the cross, is our King.
We say that what is impossible has been made possible. The Father has done this.
We say that Jesus is the Everlasting of Ages, the One through Whom and by Whom everything came into being. He is the one in Whose image we are fashioned. He is our beginning and our destiny.
Brothers and sisters,
If you wear a cross, if you have one on the lapel of your jacket, look at it in the mirror tonight. Look at the cross on the wall of your kitchen, or living room, or bedroom and say out loud, You are my King and my God.
It will be hard at first, saying it out loud. But persist. Saying it out loud is the first step to proclaiming it out loud.
Doing good works and acts of charity is perfectly in keeping with our character as Christians. More than this however, we must engage in active proclamation, the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ through our words.
Tell all that you meet: He is our King. His Kingdom is not of this world. Rather it is eternal and perfect. Beautiful and magnificent. God came to us, died for us; all so we could live with Him forever. Come join us.
Jesus answered Pilate:
“You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
We proclaim Him our King.
If we believe what we say then listen to His voice, proclaim His truth, tell of Him, teach others about Him, and follow Him.
Amen.