Are we in the Tribulation?

[spauline]

BLB_Oregon:

I knew a priest once who said that a great deal of “end times” speculation was the equivalent of spiritual pornography… something to titilate us and divert us when we should be turning our attention towards that which we are called to do. So do be careful.

Dear BLB_Oregon,

I must charitably disagree.

Several points are in order. I charitably think that you are like the opposite extreme to the Pharisees: the Sadduccees. That is, in Jesus’ day, there were religious extremes of right and left just as there are today. Specifically, the Pharisees were analogous to the Fundies and the Sadducees were analogous to the liberals. But Jesus, like the Church He founded, was safely in between these extremes. Consider many controversial issues today in which the Church takes the middle road:

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Creation/Evolution: Fundies demand a literalistic interpretation of Genesis and cannot accept any Evolution. Liberals, on the other hand, think we’re nothing but monkeys. The Church, in the middle, says we are not monkeys but have an immortal, rational soul specially created by God for every human creature but can recognize a more allegorical meaning to Gen. 1-2 and hence does not rule out some sort of evolutionary process to God’s Creation.

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Salvation/Truth: Again, Fundies not only argue for absolute truth but say that only Christians can be saved, even if the non-Christian’s ignorance of Christ is not his fault. On the other hand, liberals deny absolute truth and say any one religion is just as good as any other. Again, the Church is in the middle: There IS absolute truth, and religions vary in goodness to the degree of truth and lack of errors they have, as well as what graces are available from them, and, hence, the RCC is the only true religion on earth, but God only expects men to obey the light that has been given to them.

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Homosexuality: Fundies not only condemn homosexual acts but condemn homosexuals who even struggle against their desires and sometimes even use deriding words to describe them. The RCC affirms that homosexual acts are gravely wrong but does not condemn a person who has acquired such desires provided they fight them and try to become normal, and the RCC teaches that we must never use deriding or insulting ways to refer to persons with such trouble and must show them compassion and love and dignity.

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Hence, when we examine the apocalypses, we have a TWO-fold message from Christ: “No one knows the day or the hour,” and “When you see these things, know that He is near, even at the door.” Therefore, today, just as in all these other issues, we have two extremes, each focusing too heavily on one or the other phrase from Jesus above: the Fundies capitalize on “When you see these things, know that He is near…” and say that the apocalypses tell us virtually EVERTHING about the end of the world, and liberals capitalize on : “No one knows the day or the hour” and say we know virtually NOTHING about not only history but the end also. Also, these two extremes polarize between the extremes of Christian history: the liberals with the very BEGINNING of it, and the Fundies with the very END of it.

Like Jesus, who was and is BALANCED, and like the Church, who is similarly between extremes on many controversial extremes, I am in between these extremes, which means that I believe that while Jesus certainly did not intend for us to know SOME things, He DID intend us to KNOW some things. Further, I think the most balanced approach is to believe that Jesus intended us, primarily, to know not so much the details of the very beginning or the very end of Church history but rather the general whole of that history.

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Further, in believing and pursuing this, I am not neglecting my regular spiritual duties to Jesus for the sake of my own salvation. However, I can understand your concern that I could get so tied up in it that I neglect my own spiritual health, but I can assure you that I am trying to make my relationship with Jesus priority number 1, and I am glad you pointed this out. But I am still very interested in the apocalyptic and will continue to pursue it.

BTW, I know a very good Marian missionary priest who is very holy, humble, patient, and kind, who most certainly does not neglect his duties but travels the whole English world giving Catholic Missions to turn the faithful back to God and the Church, and he very heavily emphasizes the Marian and Private Revelations in order to charitably warn the faithful of the dangers that lie ahead according to Her, and he is a staunch Postmillennialist like me, who believes in macro-historical interpretations of the Apocalypses.

So I don’t think that believing like I do is an obstacle to holiness and preparedness. Rather, I think it enhances it and gives me an even deeper appreciation of God’s Revelation.

May God Bless you,

Scott