St James Catholic Church

Dear Parishioners,

During this Jubilee Year of Hope we are reminded that we anchor our hope in the death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus died to save us from our sins, what separates us from the love of God, so that we may live eternally with God in the Kingdom where he is King.

Nearly everyone Jesus encounters in his final hours misunderstands him. They rulers, soldiers, even one of the criminals crucified alongside him cannot understand why he saved others, but has not chosen to save himself. They cannot imagine why someone sent by God as Messiah and King would allow himself to die on a cross. They do not realize that he came to save others, not to save himself. They do not realize that he came to bring forgiveness and mercy to enable us to cope with human suffering, not to rid the world of the suffering that is part of being human. They do not realize that he did not come to save us from death in the way that he saved Lazarus who would go on to die once more, but lead us past death to new life in the Kingdom of God. Surrounding Jesus on the cross, only one man understands.

Luke writes that this condemned man rebukes the other one, asking if he has no fear of God. To have fear of God is to realize the power of God, to be in awe of all that God is capable of relative to how powerless we are as humans. That awe may be of God’s justice or power to punish, or it may be of God’s mercy or power to forgive. In his last moments, this condemned criminal realizes that he will die as someone who has sinned grievously. He has enough faith in Jesus to respect the power that he has and so with his final words he asks Jesus to have mercy on him. For nearly two thousand years now, he provided on example of how to approach God as a sinner, which we all are. Lord, remember me and have mercy. In harmony with the good thief, may we sing out todays responsorial palm, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob