Monday in the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time, February 28, 2022

Because of the very troubling events of recent days it seems like an opportune time to consider some of the signs given to us in the Sacred Scriptures about the end times.  We should take some comfort in that they have not yet occurred.  At the same time we ought to keep in mind that great kingdoms and empires have fallen and will continue to fall as history rolls along, and the world is still here with other kingdoms and empires intact.  A given people, nation, or culture is a temporary thing, as all mortal things are.  

One of the more prominent signs that the end of the world is imminent is the conversion of the Jews.  St. Paul prophesies this in Romans 11, 25–26: “For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery (lest you should be wise in your own conceits) that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in. And so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: ‘There shall come out of Zion, he that shall deliver and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’ ”  St. Paul is explaining to his Gentile Christian readers that they are receiving the Gospel from him only because the Jews had shown themselves intransigent.  But after “the fullness of the Gentiles” have converted, the Jews will be converted.  That this will occur near the end (and so act as a sign of the end) is clear from the words of Jesus: “And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations: and then shall the consummation come” (Matthew 24, 14).

An important sign of the world’s end is the coming of the Antichrist.  St. John speaks of “antichrists” in his Second Letter, but these are mere precursors to the one spoke of in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3-4 and Revelation 13.  In 2 Thessalonians St. Paul writes to a Gentile Christian Church which has many questions about when the Lord will return, or even if he has already returned and they missed him.  St. Paul consoles them with the teachings he sets forth here.  In particular, in 2 Thessalonians 3-4, Paul declares: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition who opposes [Christ] 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.”  In passing, this verse is used by some Protestants to teach that the Temple in Jerusalem must be rebuilt to inaugurate the second coming.  However, there better explanations.  Revelation 13, 1 describes the Antichrist in terms of his ferocity and power: “I saw 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.”  The third verse of this chapter helps us to understand the imagery: “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.”  The Antichrist is described as a travesty of the Lord Jesus, who appears thus in Revelation 5, 6: “Behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing, as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.”  A travesty resembles its model sufficiently that the Lord warns us: “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).  The Antichrist will seemingly perform wonders, but these will be mere illusions accomplished with the aid of the demons.  His hatred for the Lord and the Church will boil over into a great persecution which will reach to the furthest ends of the earth.

This final, terrible, persecution that will take place is another sign.  The Lord speaks of this as a sign of his imminent return inMatthew 24, 8-12 and 24-25.  Although the Church has suffered persecution in some part of the world throughout her history, this will be world-wide and will be far worse than all the others.  It will be directed by the devil through the antichrist at all who do not worship him.  The Scriptures speak of the stars falling from the heavens at this time.  This is understood by the Fathers as Church leaders apostatizing.  A great many Christians will fall away during this tribulation.  St. Paul speaks of a “revolt” among believers (2 Thessalonians 2, 3).  St. Luke quotes the Lord as hinting at this: “But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?” (Luke 18, 8).

Another sign of the end will be the appearance of the two witnesses spoken of in Revelation 11, 3 and the verses following: “And I will give unto my two witnesses: and they shall prophesy, a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”  The number of days comes to about three and a half years, which is evidently the number of years John considered that Jesus had preached the Gospel.  The two witnesses come during the time of the final persecution.  They preach and perform miracles, and at the end of their allotted time they are killed, but then come to life again and are taken up to heaven in a cloud (cf. Revelation 11, 12).  Traditionally, these are understood as Enoch and Elijah who return to earth to conclude the work in which they were engaged before taken up to heaven while still alive.  They are allowed by God to die in the persecution because all men must die eventually as the price for sin.  Whether or not they are Enoch and Elijah, the witnesses will preach in their spirit.  They will be quite extraordinary individuals.

Let us pray for peace in the world that will allow the continued preaching of the Gospel, and let us pray for spiritual stamina so that we may be ready if we are still alive for the terrible days at the end of time.