Today we celebrate Christ the King. On the cross, divinity is disfigured, stripped of all visible glory—yet fully present. Only faith can recognize it: Mary’s faith, holding even this final scene in her heart, repeating once more, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord.”
And the Good Thief’s faith: fragile, but enough. He does not ask Jesus to come down from the cross, but entrusts himself to Him as King: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” That trust places him immediately in Paradise, for Paradise is simply this—being with Jesus.
The Gospel calls us today not to flee the cross, but to remain with Christ upon it. Like Peter, our conversion is complete only when we stop trying to save Jesus and allow ourselves to be saved by Him.
This is our joy: to share in the inheritance of the saints, to be transferred into the kingdom of the Son, and to live even now in thanksgiving, peace, and love—a foretaste of the Kingdom already among us.
Smitten With Goodness 