REWARDED after Punishment

Sunday Reflection

Solemnity of Christ the King – Year C

November 21, 2010

This coming Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, it is the last Sunday before the Christmas Season officially starts.

The Sunday Gospel is all about St. Luke's version of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and the Repentant Thief. It describes some scenes when Jesus and the two thieves received the Capital Punishment from the Roman Soldiers.

It is noteworthy that it is only in St. Luke's version that he speaks about the repentant thief. In the Gospel according to St. Mathew and St. Mark,  there was no mention about the thief repenting as yet.

Unfortunately, St. Luke does not name the repentant thief, but in Christian tradition, he is known as Dismas, and even called St. Dismas even if he was not really canonized as a saint. The name does not appear in the Bible, so it could be any other name such as yours or mine.

My first recollection of this Gospel was when I was a young boy. At that time, I wanted the name of the repentant thief to the same as mine because I wanted to be as lucky as he was. I found him to be very lucky because despite having committed a grave crime that met the Capital Punishment, he gets to be rewarded to be in Paradise with Jesus. I ended up spending more time fantasizing the perfect crime than reflecting in the Gospel reading until I outgrew it and entered the seminary.

In my seminary days, a priest once told me that while the passages in the Gospel remain the same, the message changes as you grew up. It becomes unique because it becomes personal.

Today I am happy to be able to share a different reflection, which affirms that indeed I have grown up (but not grown old). This time, my reflection about the Gospel is about Reward and Punishment.

We sometimes confuse Punishment with Justice. Criminals are punished for the crimes they have committed or for the crimes that were proven to have been committed by them. In some legal systems, it is only the President or the King that can condone or remove the punishment.

Punishment can also happen within us, as it is sometimes self imposed. Sometimes we physically or psychologically punish ourselves  for our failures and shortcomings or for some absurd reason. Some of us take failures so seriously, that we could not forgive ourselves and convince ourselves that we are only getting what we deserve.

But the purpose of punishment is not to express anger or for revenge. The purpose of punishment is to reform the person and to educate the others to do what is right and acceptable.
That is why there is no sense in killing people who kill people, to show people, that killing is wrong.


If the person being punished has reformed, then the punishment should be stopped because it has served its purpose. To continue the punishment would amount to  Torture, that is degrading to humanity. Justice demands restitution but not vengeance.

Sometimes punishment is inevitable and unstoppable, it becomes beyond our control, even when it being self imposed. Sometimes the punishment we receive is not fair, we find ourselves being punished for the things that we have not done or even accused of. Sometimes punishment the punishment we receive is reasonable, just like the case of the punishment that was served by the two thieves.

But God does not look at the reasons behind the Punishment. The Gospel is telling us that in those times when we are being punished, either by others or by ourselves, whether it is just or illegal, WE ARE NOT ALONE. 


Jesus is our King, yet he is with us all the way, he will not abandon us even when we are being punished and at our worst. In fact, we will find him right beside us  and  suffering too. But Jesus is there ready to redeem us back our dignity, he is comforting us and telling us that we do not need to remain punished.  He will not only take our punishment but he is ready to reward us today because we deserve to be with him in Paradise. 

___________________________________________

Lk 23:35-43

Gospel

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, "He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God."
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
"If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."
Above him there was an inscription that read,
"This is the King of the Jews."

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
"Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us."
The other, however, rebuking him, said in 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 criminal."
Then he said,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
He replied to him,
"Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise."