Today, we have another poem to share with you. St. Dismas is the "good thief", crucified next to Christ. May we emulate his repentance and faith today as we remember Christ's death on the Cross.
How could you believe
in the word of One dying?
How could you trust
in the power of One defeated?
How could you hope
in a coming kingdom
as you hung naked
beside its conquered King?
What kind of King is this,
falsely condemned,
forgiving His killers
(even in suffering,
heeding such a sinner),
naked before the mocking crowd,
the tears of these women
His only possession?
Hearing His final cries
you saw Him give up His spirit.
When the soldiers came
to crush your legs,
did you doubt
the promise He had given you?
Behold, today
you will be with Me in paradise.
Three hours longer you suffered.
Did the trembling earth
and splitting rocks,
the darkened sun
confirm His reign?
Were you comforted
by His Mother
standing beneath your cross?
St. Dismas holds a special place in my heart... thank you, Mother Petra!
ReplyDeleteLovely...powerful...
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful poem Mother Petra.
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining myself on the cross: humiliated, nailed wrist and ankle, scourged, thirsty burning in the hot Judean sun.
How could one such as i, so sinful and lost, find hope, hope while I'm hanging on a cross, gasping my last breaths?
Only through the love, power, and grace of the Messiah!