It was an alarming message! “Rise,” alerted the angel, “Take the child and His mother and flee to Egypt.  Remain there until I tell you.  Herod is about to search for the Child to destroy Him.”  Without delay for poverty needs few preparations, the Holy Family departed Bethlehem. Christian art depicts the Virgin Mother riding a donkey, embracing the Infant.  Joseph, strong and steady, leads the way.  A peaceful portrayal, yet danger loomed at every turn.
    Highway robbers infested the rugged road terrorizing travelers.  Without scruple or pity, these villains looted their victims and often killed them gleefully.   
     Although we find no substantiation in the Gospels, a pious tradition tells us that Joseph’s fears soon became a reality.  A band of brigands accosted the Holy Family.  Easy prey!  So, the thieves thought!
    Suddenly, the completely unexpected happened!  Without rhyme or reason, the youngest of the crooks commanded: “Let these travelers go in peace.” The young man’s newfound compassion confounded his confreres; never before had he shown pity.  He persisted: “Let them go!  There are forty drachmas in my money belt.  Take that and be satisfied.  Do them no harm.” 
    The Holy Travelers were saved from disaster. As they departed, Mary’s eyes met the eyes of their benefactor.  Her loving look pierced his troubled soul.  Thirty-three years later, on a Friday called Good, their eyes would meet again.  Dismas, the infamous highway robber, was one of the criminals crucified on Calvary.
    Historians record that Dismas had become the incarnation of wickedness.  Saint Ambrose writes of his numerous robberies and murders. He killed thousands according to Saint John Chrysostom.  Pope Gregory the Great adds the disturbing detail that Dismas slew his brother without remorse!  Since that day decades past, when he had shown a solitary sympathy, Dismas had grown old in iniquity.
    The Romans reserved the cross for the vilest of criminals. Dismas was the lowest of the low.  Roman law therefore demanded the most brutal of penalties, crucifixion!   
    Our Divine Savior was crucified with two criminals.  Although both men reviled and blasphemed Him, being in the shadow of the Cross, they were granted extraordinary graces.  Despite this, one thief screamed at Jesus: “Are you not the Christ?  Save yourself and save us!”  Apparently, he refused redemption!  He wanted to return to his criminality.   
    Then, the incredible happened. Dismas, the ravenous wolf who roamed the highways, became the lost lamb found by Jesus, The Good Shepherd.  “But the other thief rebuked him saying, `Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  We indeed are justly condemned and are receiving our due reward of our crimes. But this man has done nothing wrong.’  Then he said: `Lord!  Remember me when you come into your Kingdom!’”
    Instantly, Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, in a moment of absolute mercy, granted the Church’s first absolution: “Amen, I say to you, this very day you will be with me in Paradise.”
    “This very day!”  In the twinkling of an eye, Dismas the supreme sinner became a great saint!  This criminal, responding to redemption, fulfilled the indispensable requirement for forgiveness.  In sorrow, he admitted his sins! 
    When Our Lord opened the gates of heaven, He entered locked arm in arm, not with Abraham, Moses or Joseph, but with Dismas, who eternally would be known as The Good Thief.
    How did this amazing transition transpire?  Among the many scenarios speculated upon, Saint Peter Damien proposes a plausible solution. He attributes this conversion, the greatest of all time, directly to the intercession of Our Blessed Mother. “Standing at the right of the Cross of her divine Son, she was placed exactly between the Redeemer and the Thief, between the Judge and the criminal.  What could be more natural?  The Mother of Mercy asked and obtained pardon for Dismas from the dying Savior!”
    She remembered!  Her mother's heart never forgets us, especially when we have gone astray.  Mary, the Refuge of Sinners, rescued Dismas from the very brink of the eternal inferno, where he had one foot firmly planted.   
    The story of The Good Thief is an essential ingredient of our Lenten reflections.  Saint Dismas is the model of repentance who acknowledged his guilt and pleaded for forgiveness.   We, my friends, must do the same.
    Recent Popes have lamented the phenomenon of modern man’s denial of sin.  A Synod of Bishops on Confession has warned that the sacrament is in crisis.  Many Catholics have abandoned it. This constitutes a grave misunderstanding of our faith.  The Scriptures constantly exhort us to acknowledge our guilt. “If we confess our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive us” (I John 1: 9).   
    My dear friends, if we deny that we are sinners, how will we find forgiveness?  Let us ask ourselves, is there some sin that we fear confessing?  Have we doubted God’s forgiveness, even after having confessed our sins? Has it been months or years since our last good confession?  Why not pray to Saint Dismas?  He was guilty of crimes unimaginable, sins unequaled.  Yet, with his eyes fixed on Jesus, Our Crucified Lord, he repented.  From his privileged place in heaven, Saint Dismas will help us to make a good and humble confession. 
    Like the Good Thief, we too must have complete confidence in the infinite mercy of Jesus Christ, The Savior of the World. Saint Dismas!  Pray for us!
    Have a Blessed Easter!

                        Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.