Our Deepest Yearning

​A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, November 23rd, 2025:
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

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Luke
23.35-43

The leaders scoffed at Jesus saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I recently engaged in a little “Mass tourism” and enjoyed going to a small Cape Breton parish on a Sunday morning. This parish, unlike my own, prays Pope Francis’ Jubilee Prayer at the beginning of the celebration. I have been praying it regularly since the start of the year, but maybe the new environment is what made me pause and think, “Woah, the year is almost up!”

As of the day this is posted, we have exactly 46 days’ worth of Jubilee graces left. Where did the other 332 go?
 
As I stood there feeling a little alarmed, I tried to focus on the words of the prayer, praying them earnestly and not by rote. 
 
“…may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ… reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom… May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven...”
 
And in that moment, I realized that I just might have the perfect patron saint for the next 46 days: Saint Dismas, the Good Thief. Who in heaven better knows the hope for the Kingdom, the yearning for its treasures, and the startlingly little time we possess to throw ourselves open to the Father’s mercy and graces?
 
I think sometimes the Good Thief gets subtly maligned by our ‘you gotta work for your rewards’ culture. He’s just the “thief who stole heaven”, whose last-minute conversion earned him a place among the saints. The poster-boy for those who think they can indulge in vices until the eleventh hour and then repent on their deathbed.
 
I see something different – a man who didn’t know what Life was until he met it. On the Cross, Jesus must have had all Life, human and divine, billowing out from Him. Saint Dismas knew he wanted that Life, he yearned for it, the moment he encountered it. He doesn’t know the words to ask Jesus to fulfill his yearning.
 
“He asked the Lord to remember him when he came into his kingdom,” said Saint Ambrose, “but the Lord said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, this day you shall be with me in paradise.’ For life is to be with Christ, because where Christ is, there is the kingdom.”
 
So, if you’re like me and it’s a bit of a rude awakening to realize that the Jubilee is nearly at its close, let’s take Saint Dismas as our patron. We’re not cramming, we’re not making up for lost time. We’re reawakening to our unquenchable desire for the Life being offered us, and we’re emboldened to ask Jesus for what He would so love to give us: Himself, forever.
 



Kate Plumb

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