From the catechism, one reads of an apostasy that comes at that time. I believe, as do others, that that apostasy is here. …] I see it through the lens of the great apostasy. It was prophesied and it is now here.
I hope I am understanding this correctly, that is, I hope you are referring to the development of a religious deception external to the Church, that will bring great persecutions to the Church (CCC 675). Indeed we see that “the Antichrist’s deception already begins to take shape in the world” (CCC 676), however we are very, very far from being in the time of the great apostasy…many of the signs spoken by Christ are yet to be seen, and certainly we have seen nothing like Antichrist yet. When we see him, then we’ll know we are there. In the meanwhile, we stay close to the Church, support our bishops whether or not we like what they do and ask of us, and pray a lot.
It’s the height of presumption to do evil things because you count on God to forgive you for it later.
You are referring to Catholics in general, right? I seriously hope you are not specifically referring to bishops when you word these accusations.
And I do remind you that even Catholics who voted for the “wrong” party are not “rolling in sin” and “doing evil” for doing so…if anything, their fault is in not having informed themselves enough to understand the gravity of some issues…after all, like you pointed out, many in the Church are rather lukewarm…however, when someone who in such a severe ignorance made a choice, he cannot be accused in such a harsh way…Also, even though this is not specifically your argument, it is ridiculous to expect our shepherds to tell us who to vote for…instead, they ought to educate us in matters of faith and morals and on the consequences of supporting certain intrinsic evils, to the point that the choice,
our choice, will be obvious.
The answer is the New Evangelization, but I don’t know that the Church knows how to implement it at all.
Surely Holy Church still has - but I may be mistaken, please do correct me if I’m wrong - the guidance of the Holy Spirit on these matters, right? After all, Christ chose 12 men to change the world, and even if the Church Militant is facing issues with lukewarmness (and it will only get worse, remember? “Will the Son of Man find any faith when he returns?”) we are joined in our trials and spiritual combat by the
rest of the Church…it would be a very serious error to believe that only the living are in the combat and that works can do more than prayer…a very serious error, for often it is the other way around.
Let us then pay attention to the special request by our bishops and begin to do this penance and even more, if possible, because God was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of 10 righteous men, and He spared the already condemned Nineveh because the righteous people did penance.
