My point was that there are serious problems with Luke 23:43, to wit:
No less problematic is the claim that Jesus would "this day" be in paradise when the Church unanimously teaches that Jesus descended to hell for three days to free the souls of the Old Testament righteous. Never mind the whole idea that Jesus would go to paradise instead to heaven.
The important point for us to understand though is that his good works (vv. 40, 41) preceded his conversion (v.42).
That is certainly orthodox hermeneutics expected to be heard in a Sunday homily, and reflects the Church's approach to scriptures as principled examples of what Christianity is all about.
It is the teaching or the message, or the lesson God would supposedly want us to take home with us. But then Gospels, as eyewitness accounts, are not eyewitness accounts, but moral tales not unlike the suras and hadiths or rabbinical exegesis, such as for example Gen 2:16, where God supposedly gives Adam six Noahide laws in one sentence!
I stick to my underastanding that “paradise” is either a hellenism inadvertently introduced by St. Luke, or an actual word Jesus used speaking in Greek because St. Dismas was Greek. It refers either way to the eternal life in the Heavenly Kingdom (the word “kingdom” IS used, mind you).
As to eyewitness, apparently St. Luke was not a witness to the Crucifixion any more than he was a witness to the Annunciation. In either case, he put to paper what he learned from others, most likely, from the Blessed Virgin who he obviously had many conversations with.