The judgment of the nations

JESUS said to His disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit upon His glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before Him. And He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the king will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, a stranger and you welcomed Me, naked and you clothed Me, ill and you cared for Me, in prison and you visited Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You ill or in prison, and visit You?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’... And these will go off... to eternal life.”

REFLECTION HE WILL SEPARATE THEM ONE FROM ANOTHER. The Gospel presents the glorious Jesus at the judgment day as the judge of all nations. The parable uses the analogy of sheep and goats to represent two kinds of people: The sheep are those who provide food, drink, hospitality, clothing, and care to the needy. The goats are the opposite: They are the people who ignore the poor and the needy.

The sheep and the goat do not go together. At the judgment day, each one receives his/her reward or punishment according to how he/she responds to those in need, with whom Jesus identifies Himself. He is present among us now in the needy person who comes to us for help. Are we always aware of this?

Our choices determine our destiny.