these are passages I take at face value

They mean exactly what they say; I don't read hidden or esoteric meanings into this.

The least of these are the ones that we, as a society, regard the least -- the poor, the needy, the homeless, the outcasts, the physically and mentally disabled, the elderly, widows, orphans, foster kids, people in prison, illegal immigrants, people in other countries who are barely surviving war, famine, sickness. The socially awkward, shy person at work or school whom nobody befriends. People who are older than us, younger than us, a different religion, a different nationality, a different race. These are the people we want to ignore, we want to whitewash over, we want to sweep under the rug and pretend they don't exist. These are the people who make us feel guilty for not being grateful for all we have. These are the people we might not feel comfortable around, the people we don't want to spend our time and money and effort on.

These people we tend to ignore, whether we like it or not, are our brothers and sisters. And we ARE our brothers' keepers. There is only so much each of us can do -- but each one of us, every single day, has the opportunity to show the love of Christ to another human being, one of the least of these, his brothers and sisters. Our brothers and sisters.