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
millenarianism
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
What If…?
What’s around the bend?
IN an open letter to the Pope, [1]cf. Dear Holy Father… He is Coming! I outlined to His Holiness the theological foundations for an “era of peace” as opposed to the heresy of millenarianism. [2]cf. Millenarianism: What it is and is Not and the Catechism [CCC} n.675-676 Indeed, Padre Martino Penasa posed the question on the scriptural foundation of an historic and universal era of peace versus millenarianism to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “È imminente una nuova era di vita cristiana?” (“Is a new era of Christian life imminent?”). The Prefect at that time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger replied, “La questione è ancora aperta alla libera discussione, giacchè la Santa Sede non si è ancora pronunciata in modo definitivo”:
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Dear Holy Father… He is Coming! |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | cf. Millenarianism: What it is and is Not and the Catechism [CCC} n.675-676 |
Creation Reborn
THE “culture of death”, that Great Culling and The Great Poisoning, are not the final word. The havoc wreaked upon the planet by man is not the final say on human affairs. For neither the New nor the Old Testament speak of the end of the world after the influence and reign of the “beast.” Rather, they speak of a divine renovation of the earth where true peace and justice will reign for a time as the “knowledge of the Lord” spreads from sea to sea (cf. Is 11:4-9; Jer 31:1-6; Ezek 36:10-11; Mic 4:1-7; Zech 9:10; Matt 24:14; Rev 20:4).
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of nations will bow low before him. (Ps 22:28)
The Triumph – Part II
I WANT to give a message of hope—tremendous hope. I continue to receive letters in which readers are despairing as they watch the continual decline and exponential decay of society around them. We hurt because the world is in a downward spiral into a darkness unparalleled in history. We feel pangs because it reminds us that this is not our home, but Heaven is. So listen again to Jesus:
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)
The Horizon of Hope
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 3rd, 2013
Memorial of St. Francis Xavier
Liturgical texts here
ISAIAH gives such a consoling vision of the future that one could be forgiven for suggesting it is a mere “pipe dream.” After the purification of the earth by “the rod of [the Lord’s] mouth, and the breath of his lips,” Isaiah writes:
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall down with the kid… There shall be no more harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. (Isaiah 11)
The Survivors
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 2nd, 2013
Liturgical texts here
THERE are some texts in Scripture that, admittedly, are troubling to read. Today’s first reading contains one of them. It speaks of a coming time when the Lord will wash away “the filth of the daughters of Zion”, leaving behind a branch, a people, who are His “luster and glory.”
…the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel. He who remains in Zion and he who is left in Jerusalem will be called holy: every one marked down for life in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:3)
Your Questions on the Era
SOME questions and answers on the “era of peace,” from Vassula, to Fatima, to the Fathers.
Q. Didn’t the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith say that the “era of peace” is millenarianism when it posted its Notification on Vassula Ryden’s writings?
I have decided to answer this question here since some are using this Notification to draw flawed conclusions regarding the notion of an “era of peace.” The answer to this question is as interesting as it is convoluted.
The Triumph – Part III
NOT only can we hope for the fulfillment of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, the Church has the power to hasten its coming by our prayers and actions. Instead of despairing, we need to be preparing.
What can we do? What can I do?