The Judgment of the Nations.*
31
f “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32
g 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.
33
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34
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.
35
h For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
37
Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
40
i 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.’
41
* j 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.
42
k For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43
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.’
44
* 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?’
45
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.’
46
l And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The footnote (quoted without hyperlinks) follows [2]:
* [25:31–46] The conclusion of the discourse, which is peculiar to Matthew, portrays the final judgment that will accompany the parousia. Although often called a “parable,” it is not really such, for the only parabolic elements are the depiction of the Son of Man as a shepherd and of the righteous and the wicked as sheep and goats respectively (Mt 25:32–33). The criterion of judgment will be the deeds of mercy that have been done for the least of Jesus’ brothers (Mt 25:40). A difficult and important question is the identification of these least brothers. Are they all people who have suffered hunger, thirst, etc. (Mt 25:35, 36) or a particular group of such sufferers? Scholars are divided in their response and arguments can be made for either side. But leaving aside the problem of what the traditional material that Matthew edited may have meant, it seems that a stronger case can be made for the view that in the evangelist’s sense the sufferers are Christians, probably Christian missionaries whose sufferings were brought upon them by their preaching of the gospel. The criterion of judgment for all the nations is their treatment of those who have borne to the world the message of Jesus, and this means ultimately their acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself; cf. Mt 10:40, “Whoever receives you, receives me.” See note on Mt 16:27. [Emphasis original.]
After reading the footnote accompanying the passage above, this blogger has a much better understanding of the parable. Therefore, he is able to support and supplement the conclusion drawn by the United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops ("USCCB") which says "that a stronger case can be made for the view that in the evangelist’s sense the sufferers are Christians, probably Christian missionaries whose sufferings were brought upon them by their preaching of the gospel" but not the weaker case that assumes the "least brothers" to be "all people who have suffered hunger, thirst, etc."
The stronger case presented by the USCCB has to be the correct reading. For the weaker case to be correct, it would necessarily lead to the erroneous conclusion that the secular "sheep" on the right would enter Heaven without ever believing in God's omnipotence to the point of rejecting God's existence so long as they feed those who are hungry, give water to those who are thirsty, clothe those who are naked and so on, despite the fact that Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." [3] Without first accepting God, how can one love God "[w]hich is the first of all the commandments"? [4]
Those who are familiar with Bergolio and his team ought not to be surprised to see them rely this passage to open the door to Heaven to atheists and secularists so long as they give money to the poor in order that the poor can buy their own food, drinks and clothes, pay for hospitalization and medications so they can get well without a visit, stay at their own hotel rooms so they do not have to enter and mess up someone's home and post their own bail to save "the [secular and atheist] sheep" a trip to jail.
Of course, it is incumbent upon those, including the "goats," who are able to come to the aid of another in need regardless of the person's beliefs, to give aid with love in their hearts, just as Jesus had healed many who needed healing with love in His heart. Perhaps doing good works with unconditional love is the equivalent of doing the work of God with God at the center of one's heart, and therefore the door to Heaven could be wide open for all who do such work in such a manner, should they choose to enter it.
[1] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/25:31
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12:29
[4] http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12:28
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