Thursday, July 14, 2011

"A Thief Who Stole Heaven"

"The good thief also teaches us humility and confidence.  A whole life of crimes, a whole life of sin: a few minutes before dying, one word of humility and confidence, and he is saved.

"In the same way as the prodigal son recognized his guilt, the good thief, speaking to his companion, cries, 'For us, this is justice; we have received what we deserve.'  Then he looks deep into the eyes of Jesus and reads there who He is: the gentle Savior.

"'Lord, remember me when You shall come into Your kingdom.'

"And the ineffable answer is 'Amen, I say to you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise.'  For you, no Hell, not a second of Purgatory.  The confident look you gave me, this meeting of our eyes, in my mercy and in your faith, has purified you in an instant and rendered us inseparable.  Now you are completely pure and already in Heaven.

"A whole life of sin, one humble and confident look toward the Crucified, and there was the first canonized saint, and canonized by Jesus Himself!  A thief who stole Heaven!"

- Father Jean C. J. d'Elbée, I Believe in Love

The book this is taken from (hopefully without infringing on the copyright...if I am I didn't realize it and apologize) is all about the spirituality of St. Thérèse, and I would highly recommend it!  It really makes one look at the spiritual life in a whole new way.

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