Hi, I'm Edward Sree, and welcome to all things Catholic Catholic where real faith meets real life. I remember as a kid going to Good Friday services at my local parish and there was one

song they sang every year that really got to me. Oh this song got to be. They would

repeat this line over and over again. Maybe you've heard this song at a good Friday liturgy. It goes like this.

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

And they kept going on and on and on saying the same nine words over and over again.

Why can't we mix it up? Why do we keep repeating this? Well, it was only later in life when I studied this

biblical text, these words that you may recall are spoken by the Good Thief on Good Friday the good thief from the

cross his last words to Jesus are these words remember me when you come into your

kingdom well the biblical text tells us that the good thief didn't just say it one time, he didn't just say it a couple of times, that he kept repeating it.

That's actually what the biblical Greek text tells us, that the Good Thief was saying these words and then Jesus finally gives

his response. You may remember those words today you will be with me in paradise.

Now I'm so excited for you today because we're going to get to unpack this great dramatic

scene with the Good Thief and Jesus on the Cross as we continue our journey through the seven last words of Christ.

His seven last words that were spoken from the cross.

And as I mentioned last week, when we looked at Father Forgive them, they know not what they do,

his first of the last words

I mentioned that these last words of Jesus aren't just words spoken to the individual characters

there at Calvary but Jesus intends to speak to each of us that he was thinking of us 2,000 years ago

when he was dying on Good Friday. He was thinking of us and spoke these words so that they could be a source of

encouragement for us today for the challenges that we face today. Maybe he's

inspiring us or calling us to make a change in some way, but these words are timeless. They're like

his last will and testament spoken to our hearts if we're willing to listen.

...