One of the thieves on the cross believed there was something more than this life, even for one who had done wrong most of his life. Rather than die with anger and hate on his heart, like his companion in crime, he chose to ask for mercy and forgiveness, with the hope of being with Jesus after death. What the good thief realized was that God came to meet him in his deepest suffering and offered him, not only freedom through repentance, but the promise of paradise. Could he be considered the first martyr of the new Kingdom of God Jesus came to established? One of the saints stated that the cross of the good thief became for him a ladder to paradise.

Jesus’ promise to the good thief gives us great hope: it tells us that God’s grace is always greater than the prayer which sought it. The Lord always grants more, he is so generous, he always gives more than what he has been asked: you ask him to remember you, and he brings you into his kingdom! God wants to fulfill more than our limited hopes and desires, he wants to fulfill the purpose for which we were created, to share his divine life forever in glory. Pray for the grace to be open to the more God desires for you.