“This day you will be with me in Dismas House”. Though not the same as those uttered by Jesus to the ‘good thief’ in Luke’s Gospel, these words surely ring with great hope for those fortunate to hear them. The criminal on the cross next to Jesus asked to be remembered by him when he entered his kingdom. Jesus’ well known reply was: “This day you will be with me in Paradise”. Although unidentified in the narrative, according to tradition the name of the repentant convict is Dismas. Appropriately, Saint Dismas is now the patron saint of prisoners.
It is not surprising, therefore, that for over thirty years a beacon of hope for former prisoners in the Worcester area of Massachusetts has been a vibrant community called the Dismas House.
As its website states, Dismas House provides several critical and otherwise unavailable services for men recovering and rebuilding their lives after years of addiction, incarceration, and homelessness. These include transitional housing and reentry services. One program is The Dismas Family Farm which gives vocational rehabilitation and supportive housing on a working farm. Another is the Father John Brooks House and Reverend Richard and Gail Pryce House offers permanent supportive housing to graduates of Dismas programs. Under its BAR None program, former prisoners facing barriers to reentry to society can benefit from the civil legal services available.
Its slogan is ‘Dismas is family’ – an accurate assessment of its community which in addition to released prisoners includes volunteer students from nearby colleges and formerly homeless men living together in common housing sites. Each year the number of volunteers from families, churches and local schools is around three hundred. Impressively, the number of former prisoners who benefit each year by the BAR None program is seven hundred.
The mission of the Dismas House and how it relates to the scene on Calvary are sources of fruitful reflection.
One might ponder, for instance, two observations about Luke’s narrative. The first would be that the good thief is unnamed. Except for the attention paid him by our Lord, his anonymity makes him an easily forgotten nobody. The second would be that when he asks Jesus to ‘remember’ him, he doesn’t request Jesus to take him to heaven or even to rescue him from execution. His plea is simply to be remembered. How could these observations relate to the ministry of Dismas House? Could it be that those engaged in that worthy endeavor in Worcester first recognize and then respect the individual personhood and dignity of the nameless and forgotten?
Naming and remembering. Perhaps this Thanksgiving we denizens of this great nation – so embittered by divisiveness – will take time to identify, recall and be grateful for the bounty of blessings Providence has bestowed on us.
A Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers.
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