Sunday Meditation: The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

Today we come to the end of the calendar year, with the Feast of Christ the King, and Year A ends with Matthew’s stirring Parable of the Sheep and Goats.  This parable has always convicted me.  It is one of my favorite passages in the entire New Testament,

 

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 the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Then he will say to those on his left,

'Depart from me, you accursed,

into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food,

I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

a stranger and you gave me no welcome,

naked and you gave me no clothing,

ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'

Then they will answer and say,

'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty

or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,

and not minister to your needs?'

He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,

what you did not do for one of these least ones,

you did not do for me.'

And these will go off to eternal punishment,

but the righteous to eternal life."

~Mt 25:31-46

Why is this parable so convicting?  Do we identify with the sheep or with the goats?  If we identify with the sheep, there is no need for conviction because we superciliously stand lacking perfection.  If we identify with the goats, we have lost all sense of needing Christ.  I think the parable is so convicting because we are in tension between the two, fearful of our lack of perfection but with a heart striving to want to be perfected in Christ. 

This Sunday’s Gospel is fully explained by Fr. Geoffrey Plant. 

 

Several years ago I went through Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical, Quas primas explaining the institution of the Solemnity of Christ the King.  It’s worth a relook. 

Meditation: "'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

As a bonus, I offer this Hymn to Christ the King by Sarah Hart.