We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
Because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
Reading
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." (Luke 23: 39-43)
Reflection
Catholics, along with many other Christians, have had the tradition of making a regular examination of conscience. This involves looking over our day to see where we may have done well in the sight of God, and where we may have failed or sinned in some way. This examination of conscience is meant to be a spiritually healthy practice for us. We can look at our lives, see where we may have strayed from the path that God has given us, and ask for forgiveness and renewed commitment to Him.
Examinations of conscience can be tricky for people on the spectrum. For one thing, we tend toward literal thinking. For another, we tend to be better than average at seeing the anomalies in whatever we are looking at. This means that, as we look at ourselves, our anomalies – sins – will stand out. However, if anyone calls any of us a good person, our literal thinking will immediately engage and search our memories for any time we were not good, and then inwardly conclude that we cannot be good, because we were not good in this or that situation – be it yesterday or five years ago. If we continue on that way of thinking, we can feel depressed with ourselves since we can never score a perfect 100% on the test of life – and, therefore, we can never call ourselves good people. If we imagine that God judges us by that standard, we have still greater reason to feel depressed.
There is another side to this phenomenon. We apply our literal thinking and our ability to spot anomalies to the Church as a whole. We immediately see that others in the Church fail to live out all the teachings of Christ – sometimes in small ways, at others in scandalous ways. We may wonder how a Church that seems so compromised by the flaws of its members can be a means of grace and forgiveness.
Combine both sides, and it’s not hard to see how many on the spectrum may be tempted to depression or even despair.
Enter one of those crucified with Jesus – the one we call the Good Thief. On the outside, he sees Jesus as one seemingly disgraced, rejected, and discredited. Yet, his faith still sees the true Messiah and King of Israel. The Good Thief knows he has sinned but does not allow his sins to imprison him or to be the last word. His last word is faith: "Remember me when you come into your Kingdom".
Jesus then responds. He perceives the great faith of our Good Thief and, in turn, offers forgiveness and salvation: "Today, you will be with me in Paradise".
So it can be for us. May our sins or failures not be our last word. May we believe that the mercy of God – who knows our hearts better than anyone, even ourselves – will come to us as we open our hearts to Him by faith, will forgive our sins, and will give us a taste of Paradise. Yes, Paradise. Even now.
Prayer
Father of mercy,
grant us the faith and perseverance of the Good Thief.
May we perceive the riches of Your love and mercy
even in our wounded Church
so that we can encounter Paradise
even in our wounded hearts.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.