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| Jesus, remember me! (Maybe this is what God sees when he looks at us) |
It is unfair, to promise Paradise to a criminal who expressed contrition during the last few minutes of his miserable life. How about all the good people who go to church on Sunday, even everyday, who pray novenas and rosaries and have bottles of holy water in their homes. How about our friends who go through a long process of Initiation to prepare for their baptism or acceptance into the Church?
Sometimes I don't understand God. God's actions seem too merciful to me, to the point of being unjust. What would happen if a person in death-row for killing innocent people, has a moment of contrition at the last minute and asks God to remember him when he gets to his Kingdom? Will God give him the Kingdom promised to the gentle, the peacemakers, the humble, the poor in spirit?
How about the politicians and business people who steal, cheat and lie? Will God take them too?
I often forget the phrase that Jesus said before the conversation with the criminal: "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?"
I believe this is the key. Do we know what we are doing? Do the Muslim fundamentalists know what they are doing when they kill themselves and others in the name of God? Did the Christian preacher know what he was doing when he burned the Sacred Book of Islam? Did the Crusaders know what they were doing when they killed Muslims in the name of God?
I wish I had a clearer answer to my questions. But during this Holy Week, I realize that the reason why we call Friday "Good" is not because Jesus died for us, but because a criminal entered Paradise undeservedly.
Maybe I can learn that revenge and hatred will not get me anywhere, but a simple question might: "Jesus, remember me."
