Reflection over the Gospel Reading for Sunday, November 20, 2016: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universeby Upton Sewell, Sophomore from the Diocese of San Angelo.
I can only begin to wonder what it must have been like to look at Jesus on the Cross and hear him say the words to me, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Me? A sinner? How can someone like me possibly be in Paradise with my past faults and failures? But none of that matters to Jesus. As this Gospel reading on the Solemnity of Christ the King brings the Jubilee Year of Mercy to a close, we see the infinite mercy of God outpoured upon those who believe in Him, just as the Repentant Thief received the Mercy of God on the cross.
The Jubilee Year of Mercy may be coming to a close, but what this Gospel reading truly says is that it is never too late to receive the Mercy of God. A thief, bound to die, asked for forgiveness, and forgiveness was granted. So too will God grant His Mercy to those who ask of it. To many of us, asking for forgiveness is the hardest thing to do. We think, “Will He forgive me? Can He still love me?” But we fail to realize that Jesus has already told us the answer: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Let us therefore ask for forgiveness that we might receive it. Let us seek forgiveness that we shall find it. Let us knock on the door so that it may be opened to us, and we too can be with Him in Paradise.