The Solemnity Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King Of The Universe- "the Thief That Stole Heaven"

The phrase "the thief that stole heaven" refers to the penitent thief, also known as St. Dismas, who was crucified alongside Jesus, was made famous by Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

While the soldiers and crowd mock the Lord’s kingship, the good thief prays: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

“Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Professor Peter Kreeft makes this point rather sharply: “This man’s life was more successful, more glorious, more happy, more worth living than yours if at the point of your death you do not hear from Jesus Christ the words that he heard: ‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” [Rev. Samual Keys].

1). Carry your cross. As John Bergsma says, “We only rule from the cross in this life.”

The cross is strong enough to absorb all the world’s contradictions and make peace between them. May we, who have been seduced by the mysteries of the cross, follow Jesus and become a sign of peace in a world beset by hostilities, misunderstandings, and resentments. The good thief shows us how we are to accept the salvation he offers us. He confesses his sins; acknowledges he deserves to die for them. And he calls on the name of Jesus, seeking his mercy and forgiveness. By his faith he is saved. [Rev. Samuel Keys].

2). Mortify your body from sin. As the Catechism puts it, quoting St. Ambrose, “That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an obedient subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let his passions breed rebellion in his soul, for he exercises a kind of royal power over himself” (908).

3). Talk to Jesus. The Good Thief called him simply by the name “Jesus.”

Everywhere else in the Bible, people address Jesus with a reverential title (e.g. “Lord,” “Master,” “Teacher”), or they modify it like “Jesus of Nazareth,” “Jesus, Master,” “Jesus, Son of David.”

But the Good Thief simply calls him “Jesus.”

This is the only time this happens in the entire Bible to teach us that the more helpless and marginalized you feel, the more you need to cry out in simple faith to Jesus.

Mary taught us to even personalize it at Fatima: “O my Jesus” which begins the Rosary decade prayer after the Glory Be.

Don’t let the devil shut you up.

Don’t let others shut you up, like the rulers, the soldiers and the non-repentant criminal.

The Good Thief did as Richard Rolle, a mystic of fourteenth century England taught:

If you think the name "Jesus" continually, and hold it firmly, it purges your sin, and kindles your heart;

it clarifies your soul, it removes anger and does away slowness.

It wounds in love and fulfills charity. It chases the devil and puts out dread.

It opens heaven and makes a contemplative man. Have Jesus in mind, for that puts all vices and phantoms out from the lover.

4. Pray with your heart.

"Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

This is the only place in the Gospels where the pronoun “you” is used with “Amen.”

Amen means “it is so” or “so it be.”

The penitent criminal, who became a Saint. He could talk to Jesus heart to heart on the Cross or as the popular Catholic motto goes “heart speaks to heart” (Cor ad cor loquitur).

We may need to close our eyes from time to time to re-establish our attention and awareness on this heart to heart speaking with Jesus.

E.g. Pope Benedict the 16th taught that, God does not look at the words but at the heart of the person praying” (Diadema monachorum [Diadem of the monks], and he also quoted

The Little Prince:

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“Viva Cristo Rey”! Long live Christ the King!