The Two Criminals Crucified with Jesus

Dismas – the Good thief

Reflection by Fr. Rick Shaw, Historian, Author, Biography of Bishop John Dubois, former Prison Chaplin

Their names are not in the Gospel. We have given a name to one of them – Dismas – which translates into 'Thief, ' we added to it 'The good... '.  We have left the other unnamed. This man mocks Jesus. Dismas scolds his partner in crime, saying, “Don't you fear God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we have received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then, one of very few individuals in the Gospels to address Jesus by His personal name petitions, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus tells him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Like the many people who add the name 'Dismas' to the 'good criminal', we tend to add to the Gospel account that the second man did not go into paradise. Each Lent, a rural church I pass frequently on the way to the prisons I serve, puts up three life-size wood crosses on its lawn, a sign put on each of the outer two crosses, one asserting, “I was saved”, the other saying, “I was not”.

This is a judgment that we are not to make. We are forbidden by Christ to do so when we are tempted to decide the guilt of others. We are playing God when we do.

Sometimes, when walking through a jail's 'intake tier', a newly arrived inmate will jump up from his cot and say something like, “I'm so glad to see a chaplain come by”, beginning a narration of why he shouldn't be where he is. Long experience warns me, “Don't jump to assume I'm getting a neutral telling of his story.”   Further down the tier another inmate, sitting elbows on his knees, looks at me when I introduce myself, turns his head away and mutters tonelessly, “I don't need anything you're selling.” 

I tend to think, “We're going to get along well. He's not trying to play me.”

Perhaps Dismas was a con artist to the end, seeing in Jesus one more person to play at this last ditch moment of his life. Perhaps the other, silently dying inmate on the third cross, was abandoned by his parents as a child, raised himself on the streets, and had never in his life been told by anyone, “I love you for being you”, and who died thinking, “I'm not asking for anything from anybody”.

When all three died, we believe that 'Dismas' awakened in Paradise face to face with Jesus. I believe that the abandoned, abused child awakened to see Jesus and 'Dismas' with him in this new place called Paradise, Jesus saying to him, “I love you for who you are, and when I prayed 'Father, forgive them, they don't know what they are doing,’ I was praying for everyone and you were nearest to me when I did so.”

The forgiveness that Jesus assures us is what we awaken ourselves to during this season of Penance and forgiveness. And we must never, in our hearts, exclude anyone from it.

Mary of Magdala
Reflection by Janet Derby, PHD, Parishioner, Sacred Heart Church
 
Mary, a wise woman, of the town of Magdala (Migdal) in Galilee, known as Mary Magdalene, lived in an area known for its worldly Hellenistic culture and as a refuge for Christians from the Romans. Some remains of this ancient town, along the sea of Galilee, still exist today. It was primarily a fishing and mercantile center. Today, historians refer to it as the crossroads of Jewish and Christian history.
 
Scholars tell us, that in all probability, Mary was financially independent. Like others, she supplied Jesus and his followers with resources, such as money and material goods they needed to carry on their work of spreading the Good News.
 
At the beginning of his eighth chapter, Luke introduces a group of women from the region of Galilee “who ministered to Jesus and his Apostles from their resources”. Chiefly among these women was Mary Magdalene. One can only wonder what her daily life was like. It is widely accepted that she played an important role in the life and ministry of Jesus. Unlike other women, who were identified as the wife of someone, she was identified by her hometown and as the woman who understood all things. Mary was a devoted disciple of Jesus.
 
Mary stayed close to Jesus as He faced death when all the other male disciples fled for their lives (Matthew 26:56). The women remained, standing as near as they dared to (perhaps women were deemed less threatening to the Romans at the time).
 
Mary Magdalene appears consistently in all four Gospels. She was at the foot of the cross during the Crucifixion. Mary also helped prepare Jesus’ body for burial. She was the first witness to His resurrection. Three evangelists name her as present at the crucifixion, two at Jesus’ burial, four place her at the empty tomb, and three proclaim that she saw and spoke to the risen Jesus.  Mary stayed at the tomb, weeping. Taking pity on her, Jesus let her recognize Him and she addressed him as Rabbouni (Teacher).
 
She is referred to as the “Apostle to the Apostles” because Jesus directed her to go and tell the others what she witnessed. Mary was chosen to announce the resurrection to the other apostles. Mary was the first to proclaim the joyful, central message of Easter- “He has risen!”
 

Mary the Wife of Clopas
Reflection by Katherine Corey, Music Minister, Sacred Heart Church
 
Like many characters in the Bible, Mary the wife of Clopas is one where many details are pure speculation. If there is a biblical scholar skilled enough to speculate, it sure isn’t me. However, since I’ve been asked, here is a 22-year-old non-biblical scholar’s reflection.
 
Many assume with confidence that Mary, the wife of Clopas, was the Blessed Virgin’s sister. It is hard to reflect on someone for whom we have so few details, but one thing we know for sure is that she was one of the few who remained at the cross during the crucifixion:
 
“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”
John 19:25
 
Although we aren’t sure of her relations or even how many children she may have had nor who they were, we can characterize her by her experience. Experiences contribute to who we are. Mary experienced the most powerful moment in history, matched only by the resurrection. I invite you to close your eyes, enter into a state of meditation and place yourselves in Mary’s shoes.
 
You see your sister that you love so much watching her son die. You look at your nephew bleeding profusely and you can’t even comprehend the pain he is in. Your heart is breaking, but it’s not breaking hard enough. You remember that one time someone you cared about misunderstood you. You had good intentions, but the person didn’t understand and mistreated you because of it. You look up at Jesus. Has anyone been more misunderstood in history than He? He was perfect- He was God! And the human race nailed Him to a cross and crucified Him. Why? Because, we didn’t understand. You raised children that grew up with this man. You love Him with all your heart and you understand Him more than the soldiers who crucified Him. And yet, you are still partly to blame for His crucifixion. Because every time you sinned against God, you too were nailing Him to the cross. As you are trying to wrap your head around this painful and confusing process you hear Jesus speak.
 
“Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
John 19:26-27
 
Jesus isn’t directly speaking to you; He’s speaking to John the Apostle. But these words are profound and they apply to you. Jesus is proclaiming Mary as the Blessed Mother. He speaks to John, but is also speaking to the world when he says “Here is your mother”. You look at your beautiful sister who God has chosen. You look at her with admiration and realize the overwhelming amount of pain she is experiencing. You feel as though your pain is unbearable, but you know that whatever she’s feeling is worse. You are overwhelmed with so many emotions you can’t process and so you just bow your head in humility, because there is nothing else to do.
 

Nicodemus – the secret disciple
Reflection by Fr. Rendell Torres, Pastor, Our Lady of Hope, Whitehall
 
Nicodemus was a secret disciple of Jesus, visiting Jesus at night because he was afraid of backlash from his colleagues in the Sanhedrin, the “supreme court” composed of about 70 Jewish religious leaders. It must have been prestigious to be a member of this exclusive and powerful group, who enforced Jewish law and customs, and only lacked the power to carry out capital punishment. Though the Sanhedrin as a group grew hostile toward Jesus, Nicodemus could not suppress his own secret belief in Jesus, whom he visited under cover of nocturnal darkness and confessed, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him.” (John 3:2)
 
Nicodemus tried to stick up for Jesus during the Sanhedrin’s plots against the Lord, once saying, “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” They pounced on him and shut him down, saying, “You are not from Galilee also, are you?” (John 7:51-52).  Apparently, Nicodemus backs down in fearful silence; have we done similarly when we are in a position to defend Jesus but tread timidly and back away from blowback because we are afraid of crippling our worldly status?
 
The final scene with Nicodemus describes him and Joseph of Arimathea (also a secret disciple of Jesus, hiding his faith because of his fear of the Jews), taking down the dead body of Jesus from the cross (John 19:38-42). They reveal their faith publicly, maybe because they were sorry that they could have done more to prevent the evil done to the Lord. Perhaps they feel that it’s the least they can do to honor Jesus and comfort His suffering and grieving mother.
 
It took the death of Jesus to wake Nicodemus up to see that his worldly fears made him falter in defending Jesus. He may have begun at that moment to grow in courage and detach from those fears. Maybe this was the first grace Nicodemus accepted from the sacrifice of Jesus, offering His life on the cross for him.
 
We can imagine taking down the sacred and beloved body of Christ down from the cross, sorry that we could have done more to defend Him and publicly support Him. Thank God that He is merciful and forgiving, just as He forgave Peter for denying Him three times. During this Lent in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance, let’s confess our timidity of faith, and ask the Mother of God to help us love her Son with her unflinching devotion, even in the daylight of public everyday life.