Friday in the Octave of Christmas, December 31, 2022

John 2, 18-21

Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the Antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number; if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.

In the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist is described in this fashion: “A beast coming up out the sea, having seven heads and ten horns: and upon his horns, ten diadems: and upon his heads, names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like to a leopard: and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his own strength and great power. And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to death: and his death’s wound was healed. And all the earth was in admiration after the beast” (Revelation 1-3).  This is a travesty of the Lamb of God, who is described in Revelation: “A Lamb standing, as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 5, 6).  The Antichrist will attempt to appear as the true Christ who is to come into the world, and denouncing Jesus Christ as false.  He will set himself up as God, to be worshipped, and will seem powerful.  St. Paul describes him thus: “The man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God” (2 Thessalonians 2, 3-4).  

He will make himself out to be Christ and will appear to perform many signs, as our Lord himself warns us, but these are merely tricks without substance: “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect” (Matthew 24, 24).  How will we know that he is the Antichrist? Because his deeds will be wicked and his teachings will attempt to overthrow the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He will lead many astray, some of whom will also seem to perform signs and to prophesy.  The Lord solemnly warns us: “By their deeds you shall know them” (Matthew 7, 6).  

Before the Antichrist’s coming many antichrists, as St. John informs us, will appear and attempt to destroy the Church and her teaching.  Indeed, they were at work from Apostolic times, as we see in the excerpt from his First Letter used in today’s Mass.  They teach what is false and try to make a mess of Church doctrine and authority.  They oppose what is right and use the cover of authority to cause the Faithful to worship false gods.  They delight in every kind of perversion and strive to make it normal.  The Antichrist and his minion antichrists will possess a certain charm which will aid in his deception, for, as St. Paul tells us, “False apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no wonder: for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11, 13-14). 

The Antichrist and those that precede his coming will test the faith of those who belong to Christ, strengthening it in those who choose to persevere so that they will be made perfect in it.  He will cause great confusion and will usher in a fierce persecution of those who refuse to worship him, but his time is short.  At the end of the world, “the Lord Jesus shall kill [him] with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy [him] with the brightness of his coming: him whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2, 8–9).  The ancient tradition is that the Lord will slay him on Mount Sinai.

Who will he be?  Much speculation has swirled over this question through the ages.  The earliest Christians thought it would be Nero, come back from the dead.  Each generation of the faithful has named its worst enemy as the Antichrist.  While these maybe have been antichrists, none of them were the Antichrist.  He could be anyone and he could come at any time.  He will possess some kind of official authority, teach a parody of the Gospel, and seemingly perform wonders.  

We pray that we will remain faithful to the Lord Jesus and his teachings in the face of all the trials the devil and his agents can throw against us.