‘rejoice that your names are written in heaven’
Commentary
April 23rd 2011
When Jesus’ disciples said to him, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’ he replied, ‘Do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ And you too, so long as you make the effort to participate in divine life by the way you think, feel and act and you spread this life wherever you are, your name will be written in heaven, and you will never want for anything. And those who feel poor, forsaken and wretched should know that it is never too late to become worthy of seeing their name written there.
The Gospels tell how Jesus was crucified between two criminals. One of them taunted him, making fun of him, but the other one, who had sensed in his soul his exceptional greatness, addressed this prayer to him: ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’