Matthew 25:31-46
Final Judgment
by Rev. Joseph M. Rampino
Reprinted by permission of "The Arlington Catholic Herald"

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Matthew wrote to show that Christ was the
Messiah and fulfilled the Jewish prophecies.

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.'

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."

As he church comes to the close of the liturgical year, she turns our minds to the end of all things, the final coming of Chris in judgment, and the inauguration of his definitive, unending reign.  She presents Christ's own portrayal of this moment - the vision of the Son of Man dividing the sheep and he goats to good and the bad according to the love and charity they showed to him hidden in the distressing disguise of the poor, the suffering, the rightly or wrongly imprisoned.  Thinking about this great, inevitable and irrevocable moment of eternal decision can give us anxiety as believing Christians.  If we are honest with ourselves, we know how far short of goodness we have fallen in our various sins, and how for every place on our lives we show Christ's love, there is probably another place where we don't.  This uneasiness is not all bad, especially if it leads to repentance, but today, we ought to consider the deeper truth that it is good news for us that it is Christ the King who will be our judge.

Yes, it is good news that public opinion will not judge us, nor will our friends or family judge us, nor will we judge ourselves.  It is good news that Christ will judge us because he sees all things with perfect clarity, because he is all powerful and perfectly content as God, and because he loves us more than anyone.

First, it is good that Christ sees all things.  We might balk at this suggestion, knowing that it means Christ sees even those things that we hide from others, whether thoughts, desires, deeds, fears, characteristics, or any other thing.  He sees those things about us that make us cringe with shame, and which we would rather hide even from our own sight.  So why is this good?  Well, Christ, knowing all of these things from the beginning, still loved us, chose to offer himself for us, and join us to himself by baptism.  He is not, and will not, be surprised by anything at the end, as other people would be if they suddenly saw our whole life with complete and perfect detail.

The fact that Christ is almighty and content in he Father is also good news for our judgment.  This joy means that, unlike our human neighbors, Christ is not defending himself in the act of judging us.  When we judge one another, this is precisely what we do.  We judge in order to address our own hurts, or the hurts of others that have become our own.  Christ does not judge merely to soothe himself or satisfy a sense of wounded outrage.  If our sins hurt him, as they did during his Passion, it is because he chose to let them, and he does not resent carrying the cross for us.  Risen now, he is perfectly joyful in the Father, and has no need to judge us for mere revenge.

Finally, we can rejoice in the truth that the one who judges us loves us more than anyone ever has or could.  Christ loves us more than any parent has ever loved us, more than any spouse, child, or friend, and more than we have loved ourselves.  He understands us beyond the capacity of any human heart.  He is the origin of our unique self, which he knows more deeply than we do.  He is deeply invested in, and indeed, has given his life for the sake of, our salvation.  It is possible that we end up among the goats on his left, if we decide to reject that love with the choices we make, but in the end, we have a good King who, knowing all things, and capable of all things, offers us the way into the Kingdom that is his home.