Sometimes I get emails from readers, whose adult children have abandoned Christianity. “What can we do?” the worried parents ask me.
I can certainly relate, since I turned my back on Catholicism in college — and merrily traversed a godless path for many years before returning.
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My parents, however, were spared any anguish, since I lived in a different city — and was skilled at deception.
As Holy Week opens on Palm Sunday, April 9, Christians worldwide will ponder the final days in Christ’s earthly journey — culminating with the crucifixion on Good Friday.
In many churches, a Gospel story of Christ’s passion will be read aloud that Sunday, with speakers portraying Christ, Pontius Pilate, Peter, the crowd and others.
And in this moving and enduring narrative, I detect a glimmer of hope for worried parents.
You see, the story of the good thief, crucified next to Jesus, shows it’s never too late for a conversion of heart.
Two criminals were crucified that day, and St. Luke’s Gospel records their conversation with Jesus — who had been brutalized before making his painstaking journey to Golgotha.
Exhausted, he stumbled three times along the way — and his pain was compounded by the crowd’s vicious comments.
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Once he was nailed to the cross, the mockery continued, when one thief spat out, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
The good thief had a quick retort: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?”
They were both being justly punished, he added, “but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then, in a heartfelt and simple declaration of faith, he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Little did this man know that he would be remembered for centuries — since his words are still quoted today in a prayer by Orthodox Christians, before Holy Communion.
“I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies, neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss; but like the thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, O Lord in Thy Kingdom.”
Tradition suggests this saint’s name was Dismas - and many prison ministries bear his name.
Some people today have a come-to-Jesus moment when they’re seriously ill and hooked up to hospital monitors, much like Dismas’ conversion occurred while he was suffocating on a cross.
Parents worried about children who’ve strayed from the fold might take heart from this story —especially Jesus’ reply to a man called the first “deathbed convert.”
“Today you will be with me in Paradise,” the Lord said.
To me, this tale of last-minute redemption shows God doesn’t give up on folks who’ve forgotten him.
Even if we’ve prayed for someone for years — and they’re still unbelievers — we must realize their conversion could happen after our own deaths.
This is what happened in my own case, since I returned to Christ long after my parents died.
So that’s my answer to parents fretting about children whose Bibles are collecting dust. Don’t become discouraged or abandon hope — and remember the good thief.
Because, you see, although Scripture doesn’t provide this detail, whenever I read this narrative, I envision the man’s mother in the crowd that day, doing just what mothers do — storming heaven for him.
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