In November, my husband and I found out that we were expecting baby number five. Within just a few days of finding out about the pregnancy, we agreed that, if this baby were a boy, we liked the name Dismas, the name attributed to the “good thief” crucified with Christ.
Our devotion to St. Dismas has grown over the last few years. We both love that Dismas was able to see Christ as Lord in the midst of his greatest suffering and trust that he could still ask for Christ’s mercy.
He trusted that Our Lord’s mercy was still available to him; it wasn’t “too late” and he wasn’t “too far gone.” But, what’s more, as is always the case, is what we learn of Christ through this brief interlude in the gospels.
Dismas is the only person canonized directly by Christ while still alive. It’s notable that the only words Christ speaks to Dismas are, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
He promises that Dismas is going to go to heaven but doesn’t remove Dismas’ suffering. Christ enters into Dismas’ suffering with him (or is already suffering with Dismas when Dismas thinks to call out to Him).
Literally by Dismas’ side, enduring the same treatment, Christ shows us that He will not rid us of our suffering when we cry out to Him, but He will enter into it with us.
As with Dismas, Christ gives us the hope to endure what suffering comes our way. And, if we’re honest, we can acknowledge that Christ was already there, suffering along with us, before we even thought to cry out to Him.
These reflections were especially fitting when, one month later, four days before Gaudete Sunday, we found out that we had lost baby Dismas. Approaching “rejoice Sunday” and the week of joy in Advent, I have been struck by the fact that the week of joy is preceded by the weeks of hope and peace.
Joy only comes when we place our hope in Christ and allow the peace of our Lord’s perfect plan to work in our lives. Joy is still available to us in the midst of great suffering because we know that Christ is by our side in it.
What joy Dismas must have felt at Christ’s assurance that he would be with Him in paradise! Only in this assurance is joy a possibility.
It is fitting that the final week of Advent following joy is love. All hope, peace and joy come from and culminate in the greatest love ever known: the love of a Father who loves His people so much that He came to experience humanity with us.
We know, shortly before Christ’s interaction with Dismas on the cross, He wrestled with abandonment to the Lord’s plan (“Let this cup pass from Me…”).
So, while we wrestle with our own abandonment to the Lord’s providence, while we mourn the loss of Dismas and all the life we desired to live with him, we also rest in peace and hope. Christ gave our Dismas the same promise as his namesake: today baby Dismas is with Him in paradise.
We trust that both the St. Dismas of the gospels and our baby, Dismas King, are praying for our family. We look forward with hope – and a little bit of peace – to the joy of welcoming the King of Love into our home this Christmas.
May God bless you abundantly in the coming year.
Emma King graduated cum laude from Hillsdale College with a degree in philosophy. She worked for Students for Life of America, the Catholic Church running college ministry at Hillsdale and as a Natural Family Planning Creighton Model practitioner. She was a columnist for Ignitum Today and a contributing author at Catholic Exchange for many years. She and her husband have four children with them and one in heaven. They live in Westerville, where Emma is a stay-at-home mom and spends most of her day wrangling their children and their very lively Australian shepherd.