Sermon on the Last Judgment – Sheep and Goats

Sermon on the Last Judgment – Sheep and Goats

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand  Mt 25:33 

For the explanation of this text, approaching the material to be preached, you should know, that Christ speaking of his coming for judgment said, "And when the Son of Man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left." (Mt 25:31-33).  Note, "in majesty," for in his first coming, to accomplish  the redemption, he did not come in majesty, but in humility and poverty.  But in the second coming when he will come for rendering repayment, he will not come in humility and poverty but in such majesty and power that the whole world will tremble. 

You know how?   Note by a comparison to a tree with birds, many birds singing and flitting about [saltantes].  But when the falcon comes, they tremble and are frightened.  So this world is like the tree bearing wicked fruits, of vanities, of pomp and delights, and some wish to fill their lap or stuff their mouth, and some search everywhere for these mundane things.  In this tree all creatures, like the birds, are playing, like the Sun, and Moon and Planets; their motions and eclipses, etc.  Also the elements.  Sometimes the earth produces herbs, plants, flowers and fruits, and at another time lets them all go,  in autumn.  Water sometimes flows etc, sometimes not.  The same of air.  So now the birds in truth sing [in vere cantant], and mate [faciunt matrimonium] , for each wants his own, so that all creatures seem to be playing. But when the falcon comes and circles, the great eagle, the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole world shall fear.  For the Sun shall stand still in the East, and the Moon in the West, so that they will not move themselves, nor also the stars, and all the mountains will melt etc.  For this reason the church in the person of an individual Christian prays, "Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death,"(from the Requiem Mass). If therefore the heaven and earth and other sinless creatures which have never violated the precept of God should fear, what shall you do, who sin often, how many oaths, how many corrupt deeds have you done etc. Then the sinners would prefer to be in hell than to face the angry judge.  So Job says in the person of the sinner, "Who will grant me this, that you may  protect me in hell, and hide me till your wrath passes," (Job 14:13).  Then they shall say "to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him who sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb," (Rev 6:16).
 

But those of good life, who in this world lived according to divine commands, and not according to their own inclinations, then they shall not fear, but they shall rejoice saying, "Lord I have desired this day;  I now shall be glorified in body and soul," and so they say, "Glory to thee O Lord," etc., therefore Christ said, "But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads," Gloss: rejoice in your hearts, "because your redemption is at hand," (Lk 21:28).

Second, he says, "then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty," (Mt 25:31), because a judge passes sentence sitting.  So he, as the universal judge of all shall sit in judgment, not on the earth, but in the air, so he may be seen by all.  The wicked shall see his humanity, the good, however, the humanity and divinity.  And the Virgin Mary shall sit with him, and the apostles, and all those who held to the apostolic life.  Authority: "Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have? And Jesus said to them: Amen, I say to you, that you, who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel," (Mt 19:27-28).  O how much should we strive to obtain this honor.  Also, "all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left," (vv 32-33).   Thus the theme [text] is clear.

And I am in the moral material, therefore on that day only the sheep shall be on his right hand, when he says, "And he shall set," etc.  Therefore, on that day it will be better to be a sheep of Jesus Christ that to have been a pope, or king, or emperor.  Now, I see in sacred scripture that a man becomes and is revealed to be a sheep of Jesus Christ from five virtues, even if he had been the devil's goat before, namely by:

Simple innocence :: Ample mercy :: Steadfast patience

True obedience :: Worthy penance

By St. Vincent Ferrer O.P.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons