In glory
where You belong,
will You hold me
in Your thoughts?
Will You lift
me into
Your heavenly
embrace?
“He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.”
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
“If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.”
Above him there was an inscription that read,
“This is the King of the Jews.”Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
“Are you not the Christ?
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.”
Lord, give us the grace to welcome Your Spirit of Love deep into our hearts, even if it means we’ll be sneered at and mocked by those, who don’t understand the sacrifices we’re willing to make for You. Give us the courage to stay strong in our faith and follow Your plan for our lives, even when it causes us to be rejected, misunderstood and persecuted by those, whose approval would be such a consolation to us in our humanity.
Help us to realize our flaws in comparison to Your perfection, so we can more fully appreciate the sacrifice You made for us and wholeheartedly repent of our sins. Grace us with the ability to more fully believe in You and the humility to ask from the bottom of our hearts like the good criminal “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Also, from Your heavenly throne, please remember all of our loved ones as well, so we can be healed and united in paradise together one day.
In Jesus name, we pray.