More Thoughts about the End TImes

Tick Tick Tick 

There are only two kinds of people in the world today.  There are the believers and the non-believers.  It is much easier to be a non-believer, life is much less complicated for those that pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.  A non-believer does not have to wrestle with something that appears all the rage among many of the subsets of believers today and that is they do not have to think about the end times, the time when this world stops.  As a believer I sometimes think about the end times. Someday, maybe today, maybe tomorrow maybe a thousand years from now the Lord will return to the earth.  That day will be both a day of great jubilation and a day of great fear and trepidation.  The just will welcome that Day of Days with open arms.  Those without belief will say to the mountains, "Cover us."  The choice of what we will do on that day is completely ours.  Each of us in our own way and in our own time will make a final choice of who we will serve.  We will take a step from which we cannot return, at least not by ourselves, the grace of God can do anything.  

What are some Catholic thoughts on these end times we are living in.  First of all, look at what our world has become. In this country our hands are stained with the blood of untold millions of babies killed in the womb.  In the United States abortion is a right.  No one has the right to take life except God.  By calling abortion a right we throw the blood of the children into the face of God.  If God thought like humans we would have passed into non-existence a long time ago.  In this country we gave taken the sacred act of marriage and have profaned it by allowing those of the same sex to join in "marriage."  In the United States we have decided to legislate God out of public life.  Christians, especially Catholics, are castigated when they remind others that we are not a law unto ourselves but are expected to follow the laws of the Lord.  These are just a couple of examples on how we have turned our backs on God and yet many of us get misty eyed when we sing "God Bless America."   These acts point to a great apostasy that is growing in our land.  Even Catholics, arguably the ones that should be leading the way, have members that call themselves "pro choice."  There are cafeteria Catholics that pick and choose what they will believe and what they won't based on

what is convenient to them.  These very Catholics are ones that see no need to go to Mass every week.  They have decided that they do not sin so what is the use of confession?  Some even do not believe that the Eucharist is the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus.  They go to communion not out of love of the Lord, but because if they stay back in the pew others may think that they have committed a sin. 

Our Protestant brothers and sisters are no better off.  First of all they have separated themselves from the unity of the Church.  They claim to believe in sola scriptura but they too embrace the pro choice :option", pay lip service to the Word of God, accept gay marriage and lots of other things too. 

So, I think we can cut short our discussion of the great apostasy of the church - our behavior, both Catholic and Protestant alike speaks for itself.  The truths we once held dear have in some measure given ground to the secular view of life. 

Next we have wars and rumors of wars.  Well, that is the human condition. If it were just wars we were speaking about I do not think that we could make much of it, where human beings are, war generally follows.  But, the type of war we are experiencing is different. The cowardly but bloodthirsty followers of ISIS are waging a campaign that is generating more martyrs in the Church than in the time of the Roman persecutions.  Christian communities in the east are being wiped out or being forced to immigrate to other countries.  Families who have peacefully lived  with Muslim neighbors for centuries are now seeing their churches being desecrated and are being

 told to convert to Islam or die.  In the meantime, the furious conquerors are exploiting the girls and young women of the area and making them into sex slaves.  These followers of the prophet and their so called holy book are a scourge and plague upon the land.  They not only kill and brutalize Christians, they kill other followers of the so called prophet as well. These people could be one of the four horsemen of the book of Revelation without a doubt. 

Further proof is offered in the form of earthquakes and storms in diverse placed.  In California drought is occurring, while on the east coast torrential rains are causing flooding.  The ring of fire in the Pacific is becoming more active.  So perhaps this is another sign that the return of Jesus is near. 

What about the Antichrist?    Has he happened on the scene yet?  I saw one documentary on You Tube where the Catholic Church is accused of being the Antichrist.  That of course is foolishness. The Catholic Church is the Church Jesus Himself began, placing Peter at the helm and promising that the Holy Spirit would protect her until the end of the age.  Calling the Church the whore of Babylon borders very closely to blasphemy because the Catholic Church is the Bride of Christ, Jesus is the bridegroom.

 Those looking to the Antichrist have nominated many men for the job, including various popes, Ronald Regan, and others but unfortunately none fill the bill.  But we have to remember that the winner of the 666 lottery was the emperor Nero and the end of the world forecast in the Book of Revelation has already taken place when Jerusalem was sacked, ending the temple which to the Jews was the world. 

So, with all that is happening in the world today what can we say about the return of Jesus?  What we can say for sure is that the time and place of His return is known only to the Father.  We must use this time to continue to be Jesus to people who do not know Him.  We should not waste time worrying about "the when" but we should trust in the Lord to keep His promise.  

Jesus loves you very much.  He wants desperately to be your friend and He wants us to Trust in Him.  If we trust in Jesus then the end of the world will hold no terrors for us. The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is our rejection of the love of God and His mercy at the time of our death.  So do not watch the skies, watch instead your neighbor and then to the needs of others.  The end of the age, the return of Jesus will be here before you know it.  May He find you with your hands busy and your mind lifted to Him.    

The End is Near...Again - The Fourth Blood Moon

Blood Moon - The End Is Near --- Again.

Well, it's been nice knowing you.  We survived the countdown of the Inca calendar which was predicted to usher in the end of the world. Actually the Inca's were just bored with the whole thing and decided that a couple of thousand years should give them enough time to continue making their calendar when the time was right.  In the mean time they had human sacrifices to tend to and solstices to time.  So when their calendar wound down what exciting things happened? Holy Nostradamus Batman, Nothing happened, nothing at all. 

In this latest End of the World event we are told that many things are coming together and this just has to be "the big one."  We should be getting ready for it. The first coincidence that is pointed out is that all four of these blood moons occurred at the start of a Hebrew festival.  This is not so odd since the Hebrews use a lunar calendar to set the days of their religious feasts and have done so since ancient times.  

Let's cut to the chase here. Is there any among us today that does not believe that the world is in a bit of a mess?  In America we are arresting teenage boys for building a clock.  In the middle east ISIS is killing anyone that they can get their hands on and the great powers are just watching while innocent men, women, and children, Christians, Muslims, Jews and anyone else that is drawing breath are being slain by ISIS.  There are earthquakes in diverse places, floods in others, and forest fires rage almost unchecked in the western United States.  The poles are giving up and beginning to melt as we increase our carbon footprint and poison our atmosphere with greenhouse gasses.  To keep it short, the world is going to hell in a hand basket.  We have problems on top of problems and we are tired of it all.  

Now I am a Catholic and I truly believe that Jesus is going to return some day.  Will it be on the day of the fourth blood moon, September 28/29 2015?  It could be, but then again it could be one thousand blood moons from now.  With all of the problems in the world it would be most convenient if Jesus returned today and fixed everything by creating a new heaven and a new earth.  Yes, that would be convenient, but I do not think that this is what He, in His mercy has in mind.  He has put us in a garden, a garden of plenty and has charged us to tend it, read Genesis if you don't believe me. The problems we have today will need to be solved using global cooperation and we may have to sacrifice to solve the issues. 

Today we live in a world where death is the rule of law.  We butcher each other in the name of God and think we are doing holy work.  We murder babies in the womb and we are the first generation where a child is not seen as a gift from God but rather as an encumbrance to our freedom.  I pity us if Jesus came back today because he would be coming as the Just Judge and all of His enemies will be placed under His feet are you so sure you are His friend?  

Do you know the story of the return of Jesus when He separates us into sheep and goats?  The sheep he sends to heaven and the goats he sends to hell.  The sheep cooperated with God and did good, helped their fellow creatures and in doing so ministered to God Himself and thus displayed great love and were welcomed into heaven.  Not so for the others, not so.  Oh they believed alright that Jesus is Lord, they see Him as savior and sang His praises every Sunday but they did not minister to Him. They called Him "Lord, Lord" but He knew them not.     

I guess what I am saying here, first of all to myself, is to be careful as to what you pray for. Today is the day of mercy, Jesus is there waiting for you and me to turn to Him and to do His will by ministering to His people and therefore ministering to Him. He is looking for us today also to be the counter-culture warriors that the first century Christians were.  They praised with their mouth but they sacrificed with their body as well.  

Do things for others in the name of Jesus without expecting any reward and offer these sacrifices of time and treasure to the King of Mercy for when He comes again He will be the King of Justice and He will know which of us are sheep and which of us are goats. 

Please remember I will answer any question about the Catholic Church or Christianity in general, hate mail will go unanswered. 

May the Lord Jesus Christ light your way this day as you go about your business and may he bless you and enable you to be a soldier for His kingdom.