"For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely,
'He was counted among the wicked'..." (Luke 22:37)
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord C
On
February 12, 1913—
just
over 100 years ago—
Frederick
Poulin was the last man
to
be executed in the electric chair
at
the state prison in Dannemora.
The
Schenectady bartender
had
been caught in a love triangle
a year and a half before,
leaving
Charles Leonard shot dead;
the
details of both
the relationship and the killing
are,
of course, disputed.
Accounts
from the time state
that,
on his way to the death chamber,
Mr.
Poulin carried in his right hand a little crucifix.
That
same crucifix had previously been carried
in
the hands of 19 other condemned men at Dannemora
who
had preceded him
in
taking the fatal walk to the chair.
(cf.
Press Republican, 2/11/13)
Now two others, both
criminals,
were led away with Jesus to
be executed.
Those
two convicted criminals mentioned in our Lord’s Passion—
they
stand for us all, do they not?
The
Son of God took flesh and dwelt among us
because
the human race was on death row.
Because
of sin, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received
corresponds to our crimes.
But
this man, Jesus:
he
has done nothing criminal.
And
yet he dies—
neither
rebelling nor turning back,
nor
loudly protesting his innocence.
Rather,
Jesus humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a Cross.
As
we’ll pray in a few moments—
praying
as his saving Passion is renewed for us in the Eucharist—
“though
innocent, he suffered willingly for sinners
and
accepted unjust condemnation
to
save the guilty.” (cf. Preface, Palm Sunday
of the Passion of the Lord)
A
small crucifix in Dannemora was passed down
through
the hands of twenty condemned men…
…but
it points to the Cross which has now been grasped in faith
by
countless sinners across twenty centuries:
the
same Cross we are called upon
to
contemplate during this Holy Week;
the
same Cross whose sweet wood
we
will kiss again with tenderness on Good Friday;
the
same Cross which has remained
the
paradoxical sign of hope for the hopeless,
who
recognize their real and urgent need for a Savior.
Joy-filled
crowds, who only know half the story,
can
wave their palm branches
in
a frenzied welcome fit for a King.
But
we who dare to stand by Christ to the end,
knowing
that he will likewise always stand by us,
raise
instead the instrument of his death
which
signals not man’s final defeat,
but
God’s ultimate victory.
With
us and for us, Jesus willingly chose to be condemned,
nailing
our sentence to his Cross.
Behind
the thick, high walls
of Dannemora’s prison,
there
is a Catholic chapel—
a small church, really—
built,
stone by stone,
by the inmates there.
It
is dedicated to the Good Thief.
With
that dying criminal
who steals his way into Paradise,
with
all who cling
to Christ and his Cross, we pray:
Jesus, remember me
when you come into your
kingdom.
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