Stealing Heaven

by Victor R. Claveau, M.J.

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk. 23:43)

Dutch Schultz was a power in the underworld. He was a criminal of criminals. His name was linked with every type of crime—from robbery, bootlegging, and extortion to cold-blooded murder. On Wednesday evening, October 23, 1935, the notorious gangster met with several companions in the rear of a tavern, the Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey.

Suddenly, Schultz and his men were surprised by gunshots as several men opened fire on them. Critically wounded, Schultz was rushed to a hospital, where he registered as a Jew.

What a Steal

But the next morning, feeling sure that he was face-to-face with death, Schultz called for a Catholic priest. Fr. Cornelius McInerney answered the call and gave Schultz a few instructions before baptizing him and giving him the Anointing of the Sick. Fr. McInerney then stayed to comfort the Dutchman’s mother, sister, and wife. Schultz died at 8:35 pm on October 24, 1935.

Dutch Schultz was buried on October 28 in a Catholic cemetery, the Gate of Heaven in New York City. At once a roar of argument and protest arose in the streets, in the taverns, in the newspapers, on the subways, and in the office buildings. People could not understand how the Church could accept such an evil man into her fold. They could not understand how Schultz could be taken up into the arms of a Church that expresses such horror of the least sin; a Church that upholds such high ideals of virtue; a Church that stands for the very opposite of the things Schultz had done all his life.

It was ridiculous, unthinkable, that Dutch Schultz could be mingling with the angels—that this hardened hoodlum could be living with the holy people of all ages in heaven. It was unjust, unreasonable, that he, in a few moments, could win the eternal reward for which struggling souls fought through years of trial and temptation.

Yet, there were many points which these horrified critics forgot. They forgot that there is One, and only One, who can judge rightly and completely and justly. They forgot that God alone knows all the influences in a person’s life—the bad example, the wicked environment, the godless home, the pull of temptation. They forgot that God is always ready and willing to forgive, even up to the very last breath of life. They forgot that God offers His grace, His light, His strength, His very life to share.

They also forgot, if they ever knew it, that accepting Dutch Schultz into the Church in his last moments did not mean approval of his wicked life and his cruel deeds. It merely meant that the Church offered God’s grace to one who surely needed it, to one who wanted it, to one who seemed sincere, to one who had no possible reason except a special gift of God to call for a Catholic priest and to throw himself into the welcoming arms of Mother Church.

A “Good” Thief?

Above all, these critics forgot one story from the Bible: the story of the good thief. To that dying criminal on Calvary, the Son of God Himself promised paradise.

Christ’s Church continues to do what Christ did. Sacred Scripture tells us that two criminals were crucified together with Christ, one on His right, the other on His left. Both were evildoers. Both had committed serious crimes. Both were guilty of death. Even while hanging on the cross, one of them, the criminal to the left, joined the Jews in jeering at Jesus. He shouted: “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” The “good thief” to the right rebuked him: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then, turning to Jesus, he said: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingly power.” And Jesus said to him: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (see Lk. 23:39–43).

To the good thief on His right, Jesus promised the kingdom of heaven. He promised He would, this day, lead this condemned man into paradise, and to heaven when He ascended 40 days later (Eph. 4:8). In the twinkling of an eye, salvation—the goal and prize of life—was given to this criminal. As someone has said, he was a robber to the last; he even stole heaven.

The Deal of a Lifetime

How do we reconcile the way that Jesus promised the repentant thief companionship with Him at the eleventh hour with the response of the living faith that He seems to ask of us? After all, Christ had made a similar promise to His Apostles and followers: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions. Were it not so, I should have told you, because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again, and I will take you to myself; that where I am, there you also may be” (Jn. 14:2–4). But He was also very clear that it is not enough to cry, “Lord, Lord”; we must do the will of our Father in heaven. Our hope of heaven must never bog down into presumption—that is, thinking we will get there no matter what we do, no matter how little effort we put forth.

What a glorious promise Christ has given us! What a precious destiny! But this companionship with Christ is not simply eternal life in heaven. Rather, this promise of eternal life can begin now—and it calls us to try to be with Christ, to live in His grace, on this earth. We are with Christ when we pray; we are with Christ when we work and suffer; we are with Christ when we walk the Way of the Cross with Him; we are with Christ when we receive Him in Holy Communion; we are with Christ every time we step into a Catholic Church.

Repent, and You Will Be Saved

Our first step into life with Christ is to enter into companionship with Him, as the good thief did, by contrition and repentance. And our ongoing efforts of conversion and repentance are essential for staying on the path to the kingdom.

Our Lord saw the contrite heart of the thief who defended Him publicly as they hung side-by-side on Golgotha. He invited that penitent criminal into His own home in heaven, even in a moment of pain and agony as he was being reviled and blasphemed. This is the God of whom we read: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God did not send his Son into the world in order to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3:16).

The good thief, traditionally called Dismas, received Christ’s precious promise because he cooperated with the great grace that God gave him. In a moment, a truly great sinner became a saint. In the face of this fact, how can any sinner despair? To every one of us, God gives His bountiful grace. We must follow the good thief’s model of repentance and his cooperation with grace. And then, in cooperation with that grace, we must strive to live a life of faith, to follow Christ.

The image of Christ hanging on the Cross with the good thief to His right and the bad thief to His left, serves as a reflection of the Last Judgment: The good will be to His right, the bad to His left. The line of the just, those who will be saved, is forming behind the contrite thief; the lost are lining up behind the impenitent thief.

In this sense, we can choose today whether we wish to be saved or not.

Make your choice now. We are all sinners. The difference is that the good thief and Dutch Schultz repented. The bad thief did not. Which thief do you choose to follow?

Victor R. Claveau, M.J., is the president and CEO of the Pope John Paul II Society of Evangelists and School of Evangelization.

Back to the Latest Online Articles