The World Ends Every Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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by Charles Reed -
In the Gospel of Matthew, Ch 13, it is written:
Expound to us the parable of the cockle of the field. [37] Who made answer and said to them: He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man. [38] And the field, is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the cockle, are the children of the wicked one. [39] And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels. [40] Even as cockle therefore is gathered up, and burnt with fire: so shall it be at the end of the world.
[41] The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. [42] And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
[47] Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes. [48] Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth. [49] So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just. [50] And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In these parables Our Lord relates what will happen at the end of time. The souls of the saved will be placed at his right hand and he will say to them: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:32)
The souls of the damned will be placed at his left and he will say to them: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire. (Matthew 25: 41)
From revelaton we know that at the end of time, Christ will come in glory to judge everyone who has ever lived, and that their bodies will arise, some to the resurrection of glory, others to the resurrection of judgment. (John 5)
We do not have to wait until the end of the world to see the parables of separation fulfilled (called parables of separation because two groups are separated, the cockle from the wheat, the good fish from the bad fish, the wise virgins from the foolish virgins, the sheep from the goats, the elect from the reprobate).
Every time that a soul dies and enters into eternity, time is ended for that soul. All his opportunities for choosing between good and evil have ended. He has made his final decision, to be either for Christ or against him, and he or she will face the consequences of that decision for all eternity. When a person dies, time ends for him. The world, with all its vanities, defects and sins, no longer exists for him, it has passed away. Christ the supreme Judge comes in glory to pronounce the sentence. "Come, blessed, or depart, accursed." (Matthew 25).
The soul comes into the courtroom, and the Judge pronounces the sentence: "Well done, good and faithful servant," or "Bind his hands and feet and cast him into the outer darkness."
There are only two sentences: Come, ye blessed, depart, ye accursed.
Only two sides: right side or left side.
Only two conditions: sanctifying grace or mortal sin. Only two conditions: saved or damned.
The coming of Christ to judge the soul is always glorious, no matter whether the soul dies in grace and is saved, or dies in sin and is condemned. Our Lord said to a soul: "Remember, daughter, that I have taught you always that, on the last day of time, My Justice will be exalted and glorified as much by the just who are saved, as by the reprobate who are condemned forever in the eternal fire with the fallen angels." (April, 1970)
The souls of the condemned show forth the perfections of God's justice, unwillingly. The souls of the saved glorify the perfections of God's justice, goodness, mercy and love, willingly, with their whole heart.
In the parables it is written: The son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kngdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity. (Mt. 13). The word angel means messenger. Some examples of messengers who have removed or decreased scandals in the kingdom of God are: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer, who by their preaching and miracles, decreased or removed the scandals, offenses and abuses that existed at that time in the Church. Many saints, apostolic men and women, and fervent, heroic missionaries, have helped to remove scandals and abuses from the Church, the kingdom of God on earth.
Some do not accept, that the kingdom of heaven on earth is the Church. If the kingdom of God is ruled by God, infinitely perfect, then his kingdom must be perfect, without flaw. We know from the parables that the kingdom of God cannot be perfect on earth. The kingdom of God is like a group of ten persons, five are foolish. It is like a net cast into the sea, some of the fish are bad. There are foolish, stupid persons in the kingdom, who make bad decisions. There are bad fish in the kingdom who are going to rot. At the end of time the good fish will be separated from the bad. At the end of time, the door will be shut, and the foolish cannot enter the wedding feast, nor be with the bridegroom. Only the pure can enter into the heavenly city (Apocalypse 21: 27)
St. Augustine wrote in the "City of God," If there cannot be any scandals inside the kingdom of God, then why did Christ teach: they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals (Mt. 13:41)?
Christ said that the kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jews and Pharisees, and given to a people who would produce the fruits of the kingdom. The kingdom of God could not be taken from them, unless they really possessed it. On Pentecost Sunday the kingdom of God was officially given to the Apostles, and shortly thereafter they preached the gospel to the Gentiles, who produced the fruits of sanctity that most of the Jews failed to produce.
Eternity Begins Right Now
About 80,000 persons die every day. Today Christ is coming in glory to judge thousands of souls. Today the good fish are being placed into heavenly baskets, and the bad fish are thrown away into the garbage pit of hell.
Today Christ is coming, to gather the wheat into his barns, and to burn the chaff in a furnace, where the worm dies not, nor is the fire quenched. (Mark 9) Today Christ is coming, to cut down the fruitless tree, and cast it into the fire that is not quenched.
Today the supreme Judge, King of kings and Lord of lords, is coming, to sit on his throne of judgment and to separate the sheep from the goats, pronouncing the solemn sentence, Come, ye blessed. Depart, ye cursed.
Today the heavenly Bridegroom is coming, to invite his wise disciples to the heavenly wedding, while the foolish disciples are shut out from the feast, cast into the outer darkness, not having wedding garments, their lamps empty.
Today the poor Lazarus is carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham, and the rich man is buried in hell, being tormented by thirst. He would like to pass over, to be relieved of his torment, but...
And besides all this, between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither. (Luke 16)
The blessed in Heaven cannot leave it. Who would want to leave a paradise of delights, where all desires of happiness are satisfied to superabundance? The damned in hell would like to leave, to be relieved of their torments, but they cannot: "there is fixed a great chaos". They will remain there for all eternity, as long as God is God. (Apoc. 20:10).
No one knows the day of their death. We do not know when Christ is coming to judge us, to prounounce the sentence. Are you ready to see the end of your world? Are you ready to meet the heavenly Bridegroom and judge, clothed with the garments of sactifying grace and good works, and your lamp filled with oil?
Please pray for those who will die today. Please pray for your own soul, that you will be ready when the Lord comes. Our little world may end sooner than we expect. Blessed are those who are prepared to meet the heavenly Bridegroom, and enter into the feast of everlasting happiness, with all the angels and saints of paradise.
= = = = = = = = = = = - • Is Victimhood Necessary For Salvation? -Will Victimhood help save the souls of your relatives? -
Appendix
The word gehenna refers to a place in Jerusalem where garbage was burned. The souls of the condemned are useless, like trash. There are no birthday anniversaries in hell: the condemned souls weep, "it would be better for me, if I had never been born."
Purgatory. The place of expiation for venial sins is not mentioned in this article. At the end of time, purgatory will cease to exist. The souls there are all saved. Purgatory is a waiting room, while preparing to enter paradise. It is a terribly painful waiting room. It is better to have one's purgatory here on earth, instead of postponing it until hereafter. Why be a coward, when you could be a hero?
• Quotes of the Saints. -- Number of the Saved . . . Español. El Mundo Termina Cada Dia - • Obras de Carlos Reed •
• The Last Judgment, by Hans Memling (painting)
Writings of Charles Reed -
Essays in Reflections
Essays not in Reflections
Novel. Mount Zion Revisited.
Anthologies
Translations
Note about Mount Zion Revisited
The character named Little Bear in ch. 13, is based on three persons, in order to condense much informtion into a small space. The face of one of them bore no resemblance to the face of a bear. (He is now deceased, probably in Paradise with his mother). The other two, still living, have the face of a teddy bear. This is not an exaggeration.
Mt. Zion is a narration of a shipwreck that was not total. Just as Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday came of their shipwreck alive and kicking, so these precious little souls came out of the crucible of sorrow, shining like gold (Job 19), and at least two of them are now praising God forever, in the heavenly Zion.
And the redeemed of the Lord will come into Zion with praise.
Sorrow and mourning will flee away,
And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.
Isaiah 35
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Similarity with other novels.
Brideshead Revisited, by E. Waugh. The effects of grace, on a group of characters.
Robinson Crusoe, by Defoe. What to do when a shipwreck happens, and everything disintegrates, falls apart, and you are faced with a chaotic situation.
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• Works by Charles Reed • A Mystic For Our Times, by Charles Reed • History Will Repeat Itself, by C.R.
Notice: Charles Reed is the pseudonym of John Henderson Stansberry, a former religious brother in the congregation of the Franciscan Minims in Mexico City. In the year 1978, (one year before the death of Maria Concepcion), a tragic incident happened in the congregation. Many years later John still felt guilty about it, and determined to write a report. Eventually the document turned into a short book, named "Mount Zion Revisited." The pseudonym Charles was used to protect the good reputation of all the persons involved. Writings of Charles Reed also include translations and short anthologies that he made, and editorials of the magazine "Reflections from the Franciscan Minims" published in English in Mexico City from 1990 to 2005. The magazine had a circulation of about 300, in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa.
"Mount Zion Revisited" was written as a roman a clef (novel with a key), in order to make known controversial topics, and to report inside information about scandal and abuse of power, without harming the good reputation of those involved, living and deceased.
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