There are in the Gospels and in the
Epistles words of great solemnity which compel us to stop one moment more in
our considerations of the Last Judgement. Christ and his Apostles declare, with
the greatest emphasis possible, that the elect will also judge, that they will
be seated in majesty as judges on that day: “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.” (Matt. xix 28) St Paul makes use of this great
Christian hope in order to pour contempt on the quarrelsomeness of some of the
Corinthains who sent to law before the unbelievers: “Know you not that the
saints shall judge this world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you
unworthy to judge the smallest matters Know you not that we shall judge angels?
How much more things of this world?” (I Cor. vi. 2-3) Such words are too clear
to admit of any other interpretation than a literal one. There will evidently
be an active participation of the elect, or at least some of the elect, in that
final condemnation of the world. The Fathers freely use a term which no doubt
recalled a familiar scene in the Roman law courts, they speak of assessors, men
who sat by the side of the judge, by their very presence giving support and
approval of his verdict; it was natural for them to say that the saints will be
Christ’s assessor when he will speak his terrific anathema over sinful mankind.
But even without metaphors it ought to be easy for us in a way to understand
that the very contrast between the high sanctify of so many of the elect and
the darkness of the reprobate will be a judgment severe beyond words. (Anscar
Vonier, “Death and Judgement,” in The Teaching of the Catholic Church: A
Summary of Catholic Doctrine, ed. George D. Smith, 2 vols. [New York: The
MacMillan Company, 1927, 1959], 2:1137-38)
