A long list of Canonized Saints, Blessed, and Venerable have stated that the period of turmoil we are living through with be followed by an Age of Peace - and that that ‘Peace’ will precede the rise of the Antichrist.
Those Church approved Catholic Prophets are very very specific about the chain of events which will precede the rise of the Antichrist. They all say that the Age of Peace comes before the Antichrist.
The Church has always taught that until the entire world is evangelized - and a following worldwide apostasy takes place - the antichrist cannot come. Read St. Paul. He had to write to one of the early Churches telling them about these things - because they were going off the rails thinking that Antichrist had already arrived. Read St. Paul. The more it changes, the more it stays the same. We have been given signs as to what must precede the Antichrist. And they have not yet been fulfilled.
I also sense (as put it so well) a ‘new grace afoot’.
In my experience, those who do not sense the ‘new grace’ are immersing themselves only in bad news - and will even on occasion violently resist and reject any good news. When that happens it usually emanates from a kind of spiritual ‘death wish’.
Those who fully accept the Christian Virtue of “Hope” (on an equal footing with those of “Faith” and “Charity” do not suffer from that particular problem.
St. Faustina tells us that Our Lord told us to concentrate on His Divine Mercy at this time in salvation history.
That is good direction and advice.
The Antichrist cannot already be here for the following reasons:
All the Fathers and Doctors of the Church who have written on the Antichrist state the following:
a. If you will read the Holy Father’s Encyclical ‘Redemptoris Missio’ - he specifically states that the Evangelical work of the Church is “far from over” and “only just beginning”.
- The Gospel will first have to have been preached to all nations/peoples in world. That hasn’t happened yet.
b. John Paul II states in ‘Ecclesia in Asia’ - that it is ironic that on the very continent in which Christ began his mission - that Continent has not yet been evangelized except in scattered parts of that Continent - and Asia holds 2.3 of the worlds people.
c. The Holy Father further states in ‘Ecclesia in Asia’ that he “sees” Asia finally being evangelized in the Third Millennium.
d. The Holy Father and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples have also both stated that “East Africa” has virtually never been evangelized at all. The reason for that is that the Moslems got there before Christianity - and have martyred Christian Missionaries ever since - almost as fast as they arrive there.
These are just a couple of things which we know from Scripture and Tradition must precede that arrival of the Antichrist. No - the Antichrist is not here - and he won’t be coming till after the entire world has been evangelized - and then after that - the apostacy occurs.
- The worldwide ‘Apostacy’ which St. Paul speaks of has not happened yet. Apostacy and heresy are not the same thing. Apostacy is a total renunciation of their Christina Faith by a baptized Christian. Far from the happening, in large parts of the world the Church is growing faster than ever before in history. Africa is a case in point, and so is Asia.
According to literally dozens of Canonized Saints, Blessed and Venerable (who are prophets who enjoy Church-approval - the era we are living through now is going to come to an abrupt end (attempts at World Govt., etc.) and the Age of Peace will ensue. After that Age of Peace - they all state that then and only then does the Anticharist make his appearance.
Now - that is looking at things from the perspective of ‘private prophecy’ from many dozens of Saints, Blessed, and Venerable and other Church-approved prophets.
From the perspective of Public Revelation - we are told and the Church teaches that first the Gospel must be preached to all the nations/peoples. The Holy Father and Church History teach us this has not yet occurred - not even close.
After the World has been totally evangelized - which the Holy Father has repeatedly stated will occur sometime in the Third Millennium - then we have to go through the Apostacy - which St. Paul teaches us the faithful must precede the coming of the Antichrist.
As to your last question - I deal with the attraction of believing the Antichrist is coming at any time at length in ‘Trial, Tribulation & Triumph’ (TTT). If you have not read it - you will find a full discussion of this subject in there. Every single century has had false deluded ‘alleged’ prophets claiming they were told the Antichrist is either already here - or is about to come.
In every century, there have been people wildly enamored of listening to their false prophecy - for reasons I discuss in depth in TTT.
BTW, I discussed in TTT the fact that there were current prophets claiming the Antichrist would make his actual appearance by the year 2000 - or by the year 1998. I was the only author to write a major book on the subject who came right out and said that could not possibly be so. I put my reputation on the line by stating that.
How did I know??? Because the signs given in Scripture and Tradition and found in the writing of the Fathers of the Church from the Apostolic Tradition clearly delineate certain events which must precede that Antichrist. I knew all those thing could not happen in the five years between 1995 (when I was writing that part of TTT) and the year 2000. It was a no-brainer.