From the ancient Greeks we learn of a troubled and broken old man who made pilgrimage to the foot of Mount Olympus to make intercession with the gods who were believed to inhabit that mountain. The emaciated pilgrim was met by a priest who said to him: "Do you not know that the gods who sit atop Mount Olympus will never look upon the form of a dying man?"

Contrast this, if you will, with a scene at another mount, the mount called Calvary. Here a dying man, a thief in fact, turns to Jesus in the throes of death, beseeching mercy, and Jesus says to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

We come, you and I, to this place and hour of worship, seeking aid, imploring help from beyond ourselves. Thank God it is not to Mount Olympus we come, but to Mount Calvary. And we are welcome. The Christ who has himself died here is ready to look upon the form of any man, or woman, living or dying. His compassions do not fail. So we come as we are, certain that his mercy knows no bounds.