Blogger Priest

Given the many things that are happening today, especially the reversal of values, I have been wondering if we might truly be entering the End Times that must come prior to the Second Coming of Christ. Far from being a symptom of mental instability or fanaticism, it is the duty of believers to be watchful regarding the signs of the times. More worrisome is the fact that many Christians seem dismissive of the Lord’s promise to return. 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12: “We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god— do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. But the one who restrains is to do so only for the present, until he is removed from the scene. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming, the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned.”

The evangelicals have a peculiar fascination with an imagined rapture when we should all be seeking the remnant who might yet be saved. It pains me that Catholics are quick to embrace the secularity and new paganism of our times, condemning those who abide by Scripture and Tradition as radicals on the fringes.

There is a divine order about which we should be mindful.  Our Lord’s first coming is heralded by John the Baptist, first in the womb of Elizabeth and later in the Jordan River which he made a womb for repentance for sinful men and one of revelation for Christ. Note that John as the prophet of the Lord was confused by many with the coming Messiah. Similarly, the one who will precede the return of Christ will also be confused with our Savior. However, where John humbly professed his unworthiness and pointed in truth to Christ; this new harbinger will be a false prophet who will wrongly usurp the honor of God. Instead of a friend, this time an enemy comes, not to make ready the way of the Lord, but to block the path and to plant an errant detour.  His symbol will not be the fruitful womb but the barren one. I suspect that is why advocates today are rabid in their defense of contraception and in enabling the abortion of children throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Our Lord speaks to this sign of the last days while on his way to Calvary.  Meeting the women of Jerusalem, he says,

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:28-31).

There is much conjecture about the man of sin. Given that he is prefigured by Nero and the wicked emperors of old Rome, many suppose he will be a great world leader.  He may even verbally profess Christ but his words will poorly disguise a shallow truth that he is in league with Satan.  He will persecute the Church or at least those who remain genuine believers in the faith.  Basic values of right and wrong will be turned on their head and distorted. There will be a vast persecution of the saints by the anti-Christ. As in the pagan oblations of old, the demons will demand to be fed and while they can sustain themselves on the lost souls of the wicked, they delight in the blood of the innocent as a sweet dessert.      

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