The sheep and the goats

“He will separate…as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”. ( Mt 25.32)

Today’s Gospel is about the separation of the sheep from the goats. The Son of Man is accompanied by hosts of angels. As all the nations will be gathered in front of him, he will be needing a lot of help in the task of separation. A huge number of all nations and races, of all types and social status, will be gathered together. Of course, some of us may be eager and  volunteer to help him  in the task of separation. But he will not be asking for our help especially from some of the experts. We can easily get it wrong, especially the experts in the task some of them may be placed among the goats!  Don’t be surprised!

 Jesus said another parable concerning the separation of sheep from the goats. This parable can give us some idea as to why he does not take our help.  In the Parable of the Weeds ( Mt. 13. 24-30),  the servants are eager to gather the weeds and burn them, “ Do you want us to go and gather them?”And the reply of the master is a firm “No”. The master is afraid that in the process some of the seeds may also be uprooted. He does not want even one good seed to be plucked out and burnt. “Let them grow together” he says, “At the harvest I will tell the reapers”. The reapers  are the angels of God.  He has a lot of them. He has trained them in the task of separation of seeds from the weeds, sheep from the goats.

 There are many whose hands are itching to help in the separation of sheep and the goats.  There are some who have done their PhD on this topic of right and left, separation and  judgment.   From morning to evening, from Monday to Sunday, without even taking a holiday some of them have been practicing their trade. They like Pilate sit on their judgment thrones  and dining tables, and pass judgment on politicians, religious leaders, their staff, workers, helpers, family members. Some of them practice the trade without even taking a break. After all the years of training, study and practice , little  do they know what the Lord has said, “Do not judge and you will not be judged”. “You will be measured in the same measure you use for others” . In spite of  their intelligence and expertise they have not realized, that each judgment they pass is revealing more about them than those whom they judge.

 No wonder why the Son of Man when seated on his  glorious throne will not  need any help from the experts! By the way the ‘glorious throne’ is reserved for him and he will not like others sitting on it! The less eagerness we  show to be part of the separation team, the better the chance for us to be on the right side, among the sheep.      –Fr T.V, George sdb