St. Dismas

Today, to Reese's favorite. Dismiss. Let's begin in the name of the Father in the Son in the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's call in mind all those we've promised to pray for.

“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and he seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins. The resurrection of the body and life everlasting, amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil amen.

“The Holy Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earns now in the hour of our death, amen.

The Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earns now in the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning as now, never shall be, we're old without end, amen.

Across is a sign of contradiction. When we say two people can't agree, we say they are at cross purposes, and even as Jesus hung on the cross, he hung between two people who disagreed about him. They disagreed about Jesus because they disagreed about salvation, because they disagreed about life. St. Luke is the one who gives us the story. Now, one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus saying, "Are you not the Messiah, save yourself and us?" The other, however, rebuking him, said and 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 wrong.

“Then he turned and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus replied, "A man, amen, I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise."”

Two thieves, one wanted to be saved from his situation, the other one wanted to be saved from his sins, and one received the salvation he was looking for. Our father, who art in heaven, would be your name. That kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen. There's a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our hands now, in the hour of our death, amen.

They are married full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed our Thalmung women, blessed his a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

They are married full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed our Thalmung women, blessed his a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

“Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our hands now, in the hour of our death, amen.”

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Our second mystery, the wicked thief, was only concerned about his external situation, which admittedly wasn't very pleasant.

His whole life probably had been dominated by a desire to improve his situation, to optimize, to get ahead, to find an angle. Now, here he is, dying hideously, and when he sees Jesus, he probably figures, well, might as well give it a shot, who knows, maybe this guy could be my ticket out of here, anyway, it can't hurt to try. Jesus to him is just one more person to use, because all he cares about is his situation, all he cares about is improving his external circumstances.

“So Jesus has nothing to say to him, and the truth is, if that's what we care about, Jesus will have nothing to say to us either.”

If all we ask God for is to make things better, or more convenient for us, or to take away some hassle, or some suffering, or just lengthen our lives a little bit, if that's who Jesus fundamentally is to us, just another avenue for trying to optimize our life situation, then we will be very disappointed.

Or, Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, and I kingdom come, I will be done, and earth as it is in heaven.

He vests a stair, daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil a man. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earth is now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the blessed Arthal, among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Hail Mary, be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

“As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end, amen.”

Oh, my Jesus. Oh, my Jesus. Oh, my Jesus. You've served our sins, save us from the fires of hell.

Lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Our third mystery. But the other thief realized the truth. He realized that his situation was actually to a large degree caused by his sins. Now notice, we don't know what his crime was. We call him the good thief, but it just says that he was a criminal.

But whatever he had done, there's a good case to be made that it didn't warrant crucifixion. I don't care what someone did or what your views are about capital punishment. Even if you think someone needs to be executed, there's absolutely no justification for hideously torturing them to death. So that good thief could have very reasonably said to Jesus, "Listen, I know I haven't been perfect, but for sure I don't deserve this."

“And don't we say that to God all the time when we're having financial difficulties or marriage difficulties or health difficulties?”

Aren't we tempted to say, "Listen, I haven't been perfect, but for sure I don't deserve this." That's not the right attitude. The right attitude is to say, "With the good thief, I've been condemned justly and the sentence corresponds to my crime." Many, many, many of our situations are due to our own sinfulness. Marriage problems, relationship problems, work problems, even sometimes health problems. And so many of them could have been avoided or at least greatly lessened if we had been more virtuous.

And even when our situation doesn't seem to have any direct connection to any of our personal sins, maybe we're really being maliciously persecuted, or there's some disease we've innocently contracted. Even then, we know that our sins are such that we deserve worse than what we're getting. Sinfulness, ours and other people is the ultimate cause of all difficult situations in the world.

And it's ultimately from sinfulness that we should be asking Jesus to save us.

Our Father, who art in heaven, how it would be your name, that kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

“You have to stay or do they bread and forgive us or trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

And lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil, Amen. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

“You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

You're married full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmung women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh, my Jesus. For give us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Our fourth mystery, the good thief knew that at the end of the day, his sins were the problem.

What was ruining his life was not that he was being crucified.

“His situation wasn't ruining his life. What was ruining his life was that he was a sinner.”

So what do we think is ruining our life? If we point to circumstances in our external situation, then we are on the side of the bad thief. On the contrary, the circumstances of our life, however difficult, they actually provide the opportunity to be saved from sin.

Just think, if that good thief hadn't been sentenced to crucifixion, he would have never met Jesus.

“He would have never met salvation for given us peace and the promise of eternal joy on the day of his death.”

Our circumstances, however difficult, are our chance to be saved from our sins. Our father, Wharton Heaven, hollowed be your name, that kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven. Of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thou among women blessed, our Thou among women blessed, is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. They don't realize that the thing that's ruining their lives is their sins. So then when their circumstances change, they're surprised that they're still unhappy.

In the great cathedral in orvietto Italy, there's a side chapel dedicated to the relic of the famous eucharistic miracle.

“And on the wall of the chapel, there's a painting depicting the crucifixion, including the criminals on either side of Jesus.”

As Jesus ties on the cross, there's an angel carrying the happy soul of dismas the good thief to heaven. But there's a demon yanking the terrified soul of the bad thief out of his mouth and down to hell. You see, all situations are temporary. Every external circumstance in this life will change if we are repentant, that change will mean greater happiness through closeness to Christ and an angel leading us peacefully to heaven. But if we don't recognize our own sinfulness, the change in external circumstances won't help at all.

The bad thief did get off the cross, but his suffering didn't end when he did.

Our father, who art in heaven, hell would be your name, that kingdom come, that will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us a stare, do the bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but to the verse for me, will Amen.

“Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, art, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, art, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earns now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, art, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, art, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, art, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, art, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen.

Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Hey, all Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, bless it, all, among women, bless it is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earn us now into the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Say, Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God review him, we humbly pray, and do thou, oh Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan, and all the evil spirits. We promise, throughout the world, seeking the root of souls. In the name of the Father, in the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Theresa, do you know the feast day of Saint-Dismiss?”

March 25th. Yeah, it's the same day as the Anunciation.

So we never get to celebrate it, so we do this meditation for you benefit.

Thank you. Because, yeah, maybe one year we'll do it.

Yeah, I mean, we're not too far off, so now that you guys know it, you can offer a special prayer on the 25th, even if we're focusing on the Anunciation. You know, that's kind of a bigger deal. It's a bigger deal. It's interesting why they paired those together.

“So what's struck you with the meditation about this temptation of ours to always want God to change our situation rather than to change us?”

I was thinking about how good of a sufferer Saint-Dismiss had to be, to clearly not be a perfect human being. He's done something that's let him not only to be on this cross, but to say, it's just that I'm here. I've done this for a reason. He's not saying, and I too, I also happen to be innocent of this crime, but anyways, he's saying, I did something that got me here. But still to have the wherewithal to be crucified and on the cross and still turn and say to the guy next to you, not get me out of here.

But because he shows that level of belief, but he says, remember me when you come into your kingdom, to have the wherewithal of focusing on next life. And that priority level is pretty crazy for someone who's just a human being and not the purest human being either. I think that gives me a lot of hope, but also a good example to how quite literally in that last moment, the Christ shows us the perfect example of how human beings can suffer with Christ. It's respectful, it's understanding, he understands the priority.

Yeah, that's, I'm just reflected on how he's a stunning example of how to suffer with Christ.

Yeah, because I'll tell you what, I might suffer often, but never as bad as a crucifixion.

And I'm still usually the guy on the other side saying, "Get me out of here." Yeah, for certain that's me too, that's a very good point. So maybe, especially on the feast of Saint-Dismiss coming up, we should pray for the grace to suffer well. Suffer with the right priorities. I was thinking about what it means to be a responsible, mature person.

“I think responsibility and maturity are the same.”

Yeah, yeah. I think being irresponsible means to say that in one sense, I'm not responsible, it's somebody else's fault, and somebody else's job. Yeah.

But this is the amazing thing of Dismiss. He says, "No, I'm responsible for this."

And because of that, he was saved. That's an interesting thing to highlight, that's good. And I find that only when we take responsibility can anything get better. Let's take resentment.

“Resentment, alcoholic synonymous really, I think, has a tremendous insight on resentment.”

Because alcoholic synonymous says that resentment is one of the number, the key things that leads people to addiction. And resentment, according to alcoholic synonymous, is that you refuse to take responsibility for this situation. Whatever situation you're in, you're at least partly responsible. And only if you take responsibility, can you get set free? But I think the same goes for all of us.

I'm going to give a very personal example.

Let's say the first 47 years of my life.

I, you know, in the car where it goes up, the, it's the tackometer. It tells you how many RPMs. And it has the red line. You shouldn't run your car in the red line. You can't run your car at 7,500 RPMs.

So for the first 47 years of my life, I ran my life in the red line. And I thought what I had, and then it caused real health problems. Yeah. And I thought what I had to change was the external situation and just not do so much.

The problem wasn't doing too much. The problem was me. And things that need to change in me.

“And only then can any real solution come about.”

I'm just saying, I've learned the hard way or I'm learning the hard way. Changing the external situation doesn't fix. Yeah.

There's always, that's the other thing about these two to men on either side of Christ.

They're both in the same situation. And it's just the person who's different. I watched the funniest SNL skit about an Italian travel agency. Oh, this is, I showed this to you. Oh, you showed it to me.

I showed this, this is my favorite thing. This is so funny.

I've got to remind you, if you're sad at home and you fly to Italy,

it's the same sad you buttoned Italy. Yeah, if you change your situation, if you're still you, that's the funniest skit. It's one of my favorites. It's incredible. It's so well done.

It's so deeply accurate. Yeah.

We always want to because we, we feel as if we have more control over circumstances,

which is ridiculous. And we feel like we're out of control with ourselves. We're kind of like at the mercy of what we already are. It takes a lot of personal decisions and responsibility. That maturity you talked about to change who we are.

“And that's the only thing that's going to make Italy enjoyable.”

Yeah. So I think for the resolution. I don't know about you or anybody listening right now. If they're still listening. But my resolution from this is when I'm in pain or frustrated or angry or sad,

I need to ask not that the situation change. I need to ask what do I. Yeah. How do I need to change you? No matter what the situation and how much of it might have been out of your control,

“taking responsibility for yourself is really the only thing that's going to improve.”

Your circumstances and more importantly improve you. Yeah. Thanks for the conversation. Thank you. If you have fossils of friendship.

Good conversation. And the rosary. Share this with others.