“The Gospel takes away our right, forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.” – Dorothy Day
“When The Beloved One comes in glory, and all the angels with The Beloved, all the nations will be assembled before the Beloved, who will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
The Beloved will place the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.
Then The Beloved will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by The Most High. Inherit the kin-dom 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 and say, ‘Beloved, 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 Beloved will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Then The Beloved will say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and the devil’s angels.
For I was hungry and you asked for pay stubs to prove that I was poor enough to be given free food,
I was thirsty and you ran my social security number to ensure I wasn’t scamming the system,
a stranger and you asked to see my green card and visa status before taking further action,
naked and you said it was my fault because I was lazy and should try harder,
ill and you told me only people with health insurance are treated at your clinic,
in prison and you assumed I deserved to rot there because only criminals end up in jail.
Then they will answer and say, ‘Beloved, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
The Beloved 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.’”
1 Comment
June 21, 2009 at 7:27 am
An interesting take indeed. And, unfortunately, there seem to be more goats then sheep these days.