quite forgotten his crimes, and couldst see nothing in him but
virtue, Thou didst say: "This day shalt thou be with Me in
paradise." O immeasurable compassion of God! Our tender Lord forgot
all the countless crimes which that poor thief had done, and forgave
him when he repented, and gave so great and splendid a reward to the
good which there was in him, small indeed though it was. Our loving
God is very rich; He needs not our gifts; but He seeks for a heart
which turns to Him with lowliness and resignation, such a heart as
He found in this poor thief. For He says Himself: "turn to Me, and I
will turn to you." And so when this thief so courageously and
effectively turned to God, his prayer was at once not only accepted
but answered. For our Lord did not reject his prayer, or say to him:
"See how I hang here in torment, and I behold before My eyes My
mother in sore affliction, and I have not yet spoken one word to
her, so that to hear thee now would not be just." No, our Lord said
nothing of this kind to the thief. Rather, He heard his prayer at
once, and made answer in that sweet word, "Amen, I say unto thee,
this day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." O tender goodness, O
marvellous mercy of God! O great wisdom of the thief! He saw that
the treasures of Christ were wide open, and were being scattered
abroad. Who then should forbid him to take as much as would pay what
he owed to his Lord? And O the accursed hardness of the impenitent
thief, whom neither the rebuke of his associate, nor the patience of
Christ, nor the many signs of love and mercy that shone forth in
Christ, could melt or convert! He saw that alms were plentiful at
the rich man's gate, that more was given than was asked for, and yet
he was too proud and obstinate to ask. He saw that life and the
kingdom of heaven were being granted, and yet he would not bend his
heart to wish for them: therefore he shall not have them. He loved
better revilings and curses, and they shall come unto him, and that