THESE are the days of preparing for the coming of Jesus, what St. Bernard referred to as a “middle coming” of Christ between Bethlehem and the end of time. Continue reading
THE ERA OF PEACE
The Thousand Years
Then I saw an angel come down from heaven,
holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a heavy chain.
He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, which is the Devil or Satan,
and tied it up for a thousand years and threw it into the abyss,
which he locked over it and sealed, so that it could no longer
lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed.
After this, it is to be released for a short time.
Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment.
I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God,
and who had not worshiped the beast or its image
nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands.
They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
(Rev 20:1-4, Friday’s first Mass reading)
THERE is, perhaps, no Scripture more widely interpreted, more eagerly contested and even divisive, than this passage from the Book of Revelation. In the early Church, Jewish converts believed that the “thousand years” referred to Jesus coming again to literally reign on earth and establish a political kingdom amidst carnal banquets and festivity.[1]“…who then rise again shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate, but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself.” (St. Augustine, City of God, Bk. XX, Ch. 7) However, the Church Fathers quickly kiboshed that expectation, declaring it a heresy — what we call today millenarianism [2]see Millenarianism — What it is and is Not and How the Era was Lost.Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | “…who then rise again shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only to shock the feeling of the temperate, but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself.” (St. Augustine, City of God, Bk. XX, Ch. 7) |
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| ↑2 | see Millenarianism — What it is and is Not and How the Era was Lost |
A Response to Jimmy Akin – Part 2
CATHOLIC ANSWERS’ cowboy apologist, Jimmy Akin, continues to have a burr under his saddle over our sister website, Countdown to the Kingdom. Here is my response to his latest shootout…Continue reading
The Mystery of the Kingdom of God
What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took
and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.
(Today’s Gospel)
EVERY day, we pray the words: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus would not have taught us to pray as such unless we were to expect the Kingdom yet to come. At the same time, the first words of Our Lord in His ministry were:Continue reading
The Victors
THE most remarkable thing about Our Lord Jesus is that He keeps nothing for Himself. He not only gives all glory to the Father, but then wills to share His glory with us to the extent that we become coheirs and copartners with Christ (cf. Eph 3:6).
Preparing for the Era of Peace
Photo by Michał Maksymilian Gwozdek
Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.
—POPE PIUS XI, Quas Primas, n. 1; Dec. 11th, 1925
Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother,
teach us to believe, to hope, to love with you.
Show us the way to his Kingdom!
Star of the Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way!
—POPE BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi, n. 50
WHAT essentially is the “Era of Peace” that is coming after these days of darkness? Why did the papal theologian for five popes, including St. John Paul II, say it will be “the greatest miracle in the history of the world, second only to the Resurrection?”[1]Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi was the papal theologian for Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and St. John Paul II; from Family Catechism, (Sept. 9th, 1993), p. 35 Why did Heaven say to Elizabeth Kindelmann of Hungary…Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi was the papal theologian for Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and St. John Paul II; from Family Catechism, (Sept. 9th, 1993), p. 35 |
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Our Lady’s Wartime
ON THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
THERE are two ways to approach the times now unfolding: as victims or protagonists, as bystanders or leaders. We have to choose. Because there is no more middle ground. There is no more place for the lukewarm. There is no more waffling on the project of our holiness or of our witness. Either we are all in for Christ — or we will be taken in by the spirit of the world.Continue reading
The False Peace and Security
For you yourselves know very well
that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.
When people are saying, “Peace and security,”
then sudden disaster comes upon them,
like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape.
(1 Thess 5:2-3)
JUST as the Saturday night vigil Mass heralds Sunday, what the Church calls the “day of the Lord” or “Lord’s day”[1]CCC, n. 1166, so too, the Church has entered the vigil hour of the Great Day of the Lord.[2]Meaning, we are on the eve of the Sixth Day And this Day of the Lord, taught the Early Church Fathers, is not a twenty-four hour day at the end of the world, but a triumphant period of time when the enemies of God will be vanquished, the Antichrist or “Beast” is cast into the lake of fire, and Satan chained for a “thousand years.”[3]cf. Rethinking the End TimesContinue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | CCC, n. 1166 |
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| ↑2 | Meaning, we are on the eve of the Sixth Day |
| ↑3 | cf. Rethinking the End Times |
2020: A Watchman’s Perspective
AND so that was 2020.
It is interesting to read in the secular realm how glad people are to put the year behind them — as if 2021 will soon return to “normal.” But you, my readers, know this is not going to be the case. And not only because global leaders have already announced themselves that we will never return to “normal,” but, more importantly, Heaven has announced that the Triumph of Our Lord and Lady are well on their way — and Satan knows this, knows his time is short. So we are now entering the decisive Clash of the Kingdoms — the satanic will vs. the Divine Will. What a glorious time to be alive!Continue reading
The Gift
“THE age of ministries is ending.”
Those words that rang in my heart several years ago were strange but also clear: we are coming to the end, not of ministry per se; rather, many of the means and methods and structures that the modern Church has become accustomed to that have ultimately individualized, weakened, and even divided the Body of Christ are ending. This is a necessary “death” of the Church that must come in order for her to experience a new resurrection, a new blossoming of Christ’s life, power, and sanctity in an all new manner.Continue reading