Subject: The Promise Is Now

Somedays it feels like you're your own worst enemy.

Part of you knows exactly what you should do, and another part does the opposite anyway.

We live in that tension all the time in 2025. We want to be good, and then we're petty.

We believe in kindness, and then we're cruel. (“Why did I just do that?”)

We say we trust God, and then we act like it all depends on us.

It's exhausting being this contradictory.

This week's Gospel has two criminals hanging next to Jesus. One mocks him. The other asks for mercy.

Same circumstances and suffering. Completely different responses.

I think we're both of those guys up there on the cross; sometimes in the same day. We turn our backs on what we know is right, mock the very things we claim to believe in. And then, in a reflective moment, we come back. We ask for forgiveness. We try again.

Jesus doesn't wait until we get it together to make his promise. He tells the thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Today. He didn’t say “after you prove yourself.”

For God, there's only now. The invitation stands. The door is open.

This week’s invitation is to notice the tug of war inside you, the part that wants to do better and the part that sabotages. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just acknowledge it's there.

And then, extend that same grace to everyone else. When someone around you is being their worst self, remember they're fighting the same battle you are. When you're tempted to write someone off, remember Jesus didn't wait for the thief to get it right first. He made the promise anyway.

The invitation is for all of us, right now, as messy as we are.

God Bless.
FF