Being Catholic/Christian Admist Tribulations and "End Time Prophecies"

[Brian_Stacy]

I will be attending RCIA in the fall of this year ('08) with hopes of coverting to the Catholic faith in Easter 2009. I am a baptized Pentecostal Christian.

However, I personally am beginning to become frustrated with the whole “Jesus is coming back soon, possibly in 2012 or before”… not only just that but everyone is looking at things and going “Food prices are increasing, gas prices are increasing… The end of the world is near”…

I personally feel that it instills a lot of fear and causes one to lose focus on the true purpose of being a Catholic/Christian. We are to continue doing His work until He returns without a doubt.

Unfortunately it seems that everyone is losing track of that…

Some questions:

1 - How is a Catholic/Christian to keep the faith admist all the running amok and screams of “it’s the end of the world as we know it!”?

2 - How is a Catholic/Christian to maintain composure and witness during these days that lie ahead?

3 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on such views that stem from the “2012” theory or other theories?

4 - What should a Catholic/Christian do when others are telling them the same statements?

5 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on the “end of time” theory? Is it anything similar to Protestant stances?

Sorry this is long-winded but I am very excited about my conversion and cannot wait to worship Christ in the Eucharist… But I do have some fears of this conversion due to all of the anti-Catholic doctrines and End-Time doctrines that have been drilled into my head in the past.

Thanks again!

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Hi, Brian! Welcome to CAF, and welcome to this part of your journey toward the Catholic Church. God bless you as you search and discover!

I’ll take a stab at answering your questions. Here goes:

1 - How is a Catholic/Christian to keep the faith admist all the running amok and screams of “it’s the end of the world as we know it!”?

By paying little attention to those unfounded claims, and staying focused on Christ, who loves us immensely. By living a life of faith, hope, and charity in Christ, so that we can anticipate His second coming with hope and joy, rather than fear.

2 - How is a Catholic/Christian to maintain composure and witness during these days that lie ahead?

I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “these days that lie ahead.” We maintain composure by the theological virtue of hope, “by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, glossary). We witness by reflecting Christ’s love to all those we meet.

3 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on such views that stem from the “2012” theory or other theories?

I’m not familiar with the 2012 theory, but I’m guessing it is like all the other “end of the world” theories/predictions that have come and gone. We know from Scripture that “it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7), and that Jesus said, “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” It contradicts Christ’s word to try to predict the dates of end time events. We should always be ready to meet Christ, especially at the time of our particular judgment (our own personal judgment at the time of our death), which for many people will occur before the end of the world.

4 - What should a Catholic/Christian do when others are telling them the same statements?

Be at peace. Stay close to Christ. Trust in His mercy. Stay close to Him through prayer and the Sacraments. Encourage others to do the same.

5 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on the “end of time” theory? Is it anything similar to Protestant stances?

For the Catholic Church’s teachings on the end of time, I refer you to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #668–682. If you don’t have your own copy of the Catechism yet (I hope you will soon), you can find this section online at vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c2a7.htm .

 

[Andruschak]

Some questions:

Great! Here are some opinions…

1 - How is a Catholic/Christian to keep the faith admist all the running amok and screams of “it’s the end of the world as we know it!”?

@@@ By remembering what Jesus said…that NOBODY knows when the end of the world will happen, not even Jesus. By remembering that we have had people who were sure the end of the world is coming soon for almost 2,000 years, over and over again, Real Soon Now.

“It’s deja vu all over again.”

2 - How is a Catholic/Christian to maintain composure and witness during these days that lie ahead?

@@@ See opinion to question 1

3 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on such views that stem from the “2012” theory or other theories?

@@@ See opinion to question 1

4 - What should a Catholic/Christian do when others are telling them the same statements?

@@@ See opinion to question 1

5 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on the “end of time” theory? Is it anything similar to Protestant stances?

@@@ See opinion to question 1

For myself, I ignore all “The Rapture” stuff and just try to live today as God would want me to. In AA terms, a life of Love and Service. One Day At A Time.

HINT: Pray to Mary about your doubts and struggles and worries. She’s on our side

 

[Muzhik]

I will be attending RCIA in the fall of this year ('08) with hopes of coverting to the Catholic faith in Easter 2009. I am a baptized Pentecostal Christian.

However, I personally am beginning to become frustrated with the whole “Jesus is coming back soon, possibly in 2012 or before”… not only just that but everyone is looking at things and going “Food prices are increasing, gas prices are increasing… The end of the world is near”…

Brian, welcome! FWIW, there’s a thread in the “Back Fence” section that talks about end times stuff from a Catholic perspective.

Some questions:

1 - How is a Catholic/Christian to keep the faith admist all the running amok and screams of “it’s the end of the world as we know it!”?

With prayerful hope. As Christians, we KNOW with the certainty of faith that we will not be abandoned, we will not be left orphans, and no matter what comes, G_D will be with us. It is our responsibility to pray and pray often during these times and the times to come, seeking discernment to know what G_D want us to do.

(I say “the times to come” because there is ALWAYS a tribulation going on. The difference is that I think we’ll be seeing more and more “tribulations” occurring in America and Canada.)

2 - How is a Catholic/Christian to maintain composure and witness during these days that lie ahead?

Again, with prayerful hope. One gift we as Catholics have that Protestant Christianity ignores is the Rosary. By praying the Rosary frequently we can grow in spiritual strength needed to witness in the times to come. One thing to keep in mind is what Bishop Fulton Sheen said (I’m paraphrasing here, because I can’t find the exact quote): "We tend to think of the Apocalypse as God’s judgment on mankind, an act of pure Justice. But we must remember that the Apocalypse is Mercy, for God will not permit evil to go on devouring the good indefinitely, and will bring it to an end."

3 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on such views that stem from the “2012” theory or other theories?

The Catholic Church doesn’t partake in or encourage “date setting” I personally think SOMETHING will happen, just because everyone seems to expect something will happen. I can’t see the Evil One passing up such an opportunity. In order to fight against that, see the answers to questions 1 and 2.

4 - What should a Catholic/Christian do when others are telling them the same statements?

Do you mean about 2012, or some other end-time theory? I participate in a number of end-times discussion boards. I’m usually the token Catholic in these discussions. I’ve seen bloody battles break out over pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib Rapture. When they ask if the Catholic Church is pre-trib or post-trib, I tell them the Catholic Church is pan-trib, as in, it will all pan out in the end. I once asked a group in the middle of a flame war over the timing of the Rapture how many would be willing, when they die, to wait outside the gates of heaven, stomping their feet, because they wanted to “meet our Saviour in the air”? If the requirements for “being raptured” were the same as entering heaven after death, what then did it matter? The war fizzled out quickly after that.

5 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on the “end of time” theory? Is it anything similar to Protestant stances?

If you mean “The Rapture”, see my answer up above. Generally, the Catholic Church is amillenialist or preterist in outlook. While the people are standing with their mouths open in astonishment that we would have such an OBVIOUSLY unscriptural view, I ask them how long their particular denomination has been around, if their particular view of end-times has been the same since their denomination was founded; I then point out the Catholic Church has been around for at least twice as long as any of their denominations, and in that time, you got all sorts of people spouting all sorts of theories and starting all sorts of movements. Given that experience, the Catholic Church basically says, Hey, what happens happens.

Sorry this is long-winded but I am very excited about my conversion and cannot wait to worship Christ in the Eucharist… But I do have some fears of this conversion due to all of the anti-Catholic doctrines and End-Time doctrines that have been drilled into my head in the past.

Thanks again!

You may be interested in signing up for Mark Mallett’s blog at markmallett.com/blog/ (subscribe at markmallett.com/blog/?page_id=279) He has some very interesting meditations on the times to come.

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[Genesis315]

As long as you keep your lamp lit (ie your soul in the state of grace) you will be able to rejoice when the Bridegroom returns. We should always be seeking to spread that flame of divine love to as many people as we can be it the end times or not.

Whatever tribulations we may face in our life time, we should have faith that they are for our ultimate good. Draw the rose from the thorns and see how God is sanctifying us by these trials and bear them faithfully so that they will be fruitful

And remember, the trials of Good Friday yield the glory of Easter Sunday

 

[puzzleannie]

I will be attending RCIA in the fall of this year ('08) with hopes of coverting to the Catholic faith in Easter 2009. I am a baptized Pentecostal Christian.

However, I personally am beginning to become frustrated with the whole “Jesus is coming back soon, possibly in 2012 or before”… not only just that but everyone is looking at things and going “Food prices are increasing, gas prices are increasing… The end of the world is near”…

I personally feel that it instills a lot of fear and causes one to lose focus on the true purpose of being a Catholic/Christian. We are to continue doing His work until He returns without a doubt.

5 - What is the Catholic Church’s stance on the “end of time” theory? Is it anything similar to Protestant stances?

Sorry this is long-winded but I am very excited about my conversion and cannot wait to worship Christ in the Eucharist… But I do have some fears of this conversion due to all of the anti-Catholic doctrines and End-Time doctrines that have been drilled into my head in the past.

Thanks again!

none of what you describe is Catholic teaching, so I don’t know from what source you are receiving these things that are giving you trouble. can you be specific?

Catholic teaching is that we turn to Christ, who promises to return, and warns us that we do not know the day or the hour, only his heavenly Father knows, and that anyone who claims to know is a false prophet.

oh and, welcome home!