Jesus told us there would be tribulation but not to fear because he has overcome the world. It is because of those very tribulations of the past that we know it can happen again. We are told in the epistles that a time will come when men will no longer listen to sound doctrine and that their hearts will grow cold and also that men will call good bad and bad good. Those are not good things. That is why we put our trust in Jesus. We can show to the world why we can have peace and joy amidst what is going on in the world, because we know Jesus. Acknowledging the problems of society is not a bad thing. It is a good thing, so we can help others and know how and when to witness our faith to others. Nobody knows what tomorrow holds but we can also look at what is going on and get an idea.
Dear Diana Catherine,
Cordial greetings and a very good day. Excellent post and thankyou for your (name removed by moderator)ut to the discussion.
If, dear sister, I understand St. Paul correctly then the “last days”, that is to say the Messianic era in which we now live, will get progressively worse and not better - “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” and, in a passage to which you alluded, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (II Tim. 3: 13; 4: 3,4). Whilst it is perfectly true that opposition to the authentic Catholic faith will always be a charactersitic of the interadvent period and that men should not be surprised or dismayed by this, it does seem that Holy Mother Church will face terrible times as we move further towards the Second Advent. What certianly admits of no doubt is that our own age is not only witnessing a fearful increase in wickedness, but there is also widespread apostasy within the bosom of the Church itself, for multitudes of putative Catholics no longer believe the teachings of their Church and have embraced a sort of
a la carte approach. Moreover, many in the West have adopted a hand in hand with the world type of religious practice that has little zeal as regards living up to the arduous demands of the faith, especially the call to personal sanctity and separation from the godless world.
False doctrines, dear sister, have always been with us and were being propagated in St. Paul’s own day and shortly after, nevertheless, as the Apostle looked further into the distant future he could forsee the dangers increasing with the unremitting flood of false doctrines, and with it the corresponding corruption of morals. Having said that, the faithful must not despair or become discourged, for the true remnant will remain firm and steadfast, its faith indestructible, for the activity of forces hostile to the cause of good will never utterly prevail against Holy Mother Church (cf. S. Matt. 16: 18). However, it would seem that the faithful remnant will probably be quite a small body prior to our Lord’s return, whenever that blessed event will be. In St. Luke’s Gospel our Lord says, “…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (18: 8). Does not He speak here of the “faith once delivered unto the saints” (St. Jude 3), that deposit of truth contained in both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition? Now whilst this faith may not always be entirely denied, neither will it be held or fully embraced, and yet without the great eternal verities of our most holy religion, there surely cannot be any
strong faith generally that is worth its salt. On the contrary, there will be many who simply have a “form of godliness” but who deny the power thereof (cf. II Tim. 3: 5). These are worldly Catholics who are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (II Tim. 3: 4) and who have refused the Church’s call to holiness and separation from the world (CCC, paras 2013-2015). Alas, dear sister, I fear that today faith in the faith is growing weaker and weaker, due largely (though by no means exclusively) to worldly conformity and an
a la carte approach to our most holy religion.
Truly, dear sister, our lot is cast in exceedingly troublous times, both within and without the bosom of Holy Mother Church, and Catholics will soon have to nail their colours to the mast and stand up and be counted. There is a lowered public opinion that so desperately needs raising and there are difficult social problems that need to be grappled with and the Church today needs holy men and women who will boldly rebuke vice and patiently suffer, if necessary, for the truths sake. The biggest challenge facing the Church today is calling the faithful to the pursuit of holiness and encouraging them against worldly conformity (Rom. 12: 2). My earnest prayer is that Pope Francis will give top priority to this in the coming days.
God bless.
Warmest good wishes,
Portrait
Pax
Did I respond to the OP? No. I responded to MMM. His question – whether the world today is better or worse than before – is the question in which I am interested.
