WHAT is God’s antidote to the spectre of Antichrist in our days? What is the Lord’s “solution” to safeguard His people, the Barque of His Church, through the rough waters ahead? Those are crucial questions, particularly in light of Christ’s own, sobering question:
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8)
The Necessity of Prayer
The context of the Lord’s statement above is key; it was “about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.” [1]Luke 18:1 And that becomes the first part of our answer: we must fight against the great temptation in Our Gethsemane to be lulled asleep by the evil in our times — into either the slumber of sin or the coma of apathy.
When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt 26:40-41)
But how do we pray when we feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or mentally exhausted by it all? Well, by “pray” I do not mean to fill your moments with a mountain of mere words. Consider what Our Lady allegedly said to Pedro Regis recently:
Courage, dear children! Do not be discouraged. My Lord is by your side, although you do not see Him. — February 9th, 2023
Jesus is not only “up there” in Heaven or “over there” in the Tabernacle or “only there” with the people you consider to be holier than yourself. He is everywhere, and most especially, beside those who are struggling.[2]cf. The Great Refuge and Safe Harbour So let prayer become real. Let it be raw. Let it be honest. Let it come from the heart in all vulnerability. In this light of Jesus’s nearness to you, prayer should simply become…
“…a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Contemplative prayer seeks him “whom my soul loves.” It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2709
Lately, I have struggled with immense dryness and distractions during my morning prayer. And yet, it is precisely in this struggle of “pure faith” where love is borne and exchanged: I love you Jesus, not because I see or feel You, but because I trust your Word that You are here and will never leave me. And should even the powers of darkness surround me, You will never abandon me. You are always by my side; Lord Jesus, help me to be by Yours. And so, I will spend this time in prayer, in your Word, in your Presence so that we may silently love each other, even in this season of drought…
The Necessity of Courage
When Our Blessed Mother says “Courage!”, this is not a call to emotion but action. It really takes courage to accept the Lord’s love, especially when we have fallen. It really takes courage to believe that God is going to take care of us when all the foretold events completely unfold. Even more, it takes courage to truly convert. When we know we are attached to something, the interior struggle to break from that attachment can be fierce… as though something is being torn from within us that will leave a gaping hole (as opposed to enlarging our hearts, which is what conversion does). It takes courage to say, “I renounce this sin and repent of it.
I will have nothing to do with you anymore, darkness!” Be courageous. Courage is not contemplating the Cross — it is laying upon it. And where does that courage and strength come from? Prayer — in imitation of Our Lord in the moments before His Passion.
…not my will but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)
I can do all things in him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
If these are the times of Antichrist, will God care for my family and me? Will there be enough food? Will I be imprisoned and how will I endure that? Will I be martyred and can I handle the pain? I’m just asking the questions that everyone pretends they don’t have. The answer to all of them is to have courage, right now, that God will care for His own when the time comes. Or is Matthew Chapter 6 a lie? St. Paul did not boast that, in Christ, He would not suffer. Rather, Jesus says to him, and to us:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. (2 Cor 12:9)
So God’s power comes precisely when we need it. Power for what? Power to have faith when food is scarce. Power to pray when fear is pervasive. Power to praise when all seems lost. Power to believe when others lose faith. Power to endure when our persecutors are stronger. This is the same power that enabled Paul to run the race to the end — to the chopping block, where he took his last breath — before setting his eyes forever upon the Savior.
It is the same power that will be extended to Christ’s Bride in her hour of need. You can count on it.
The Necessity for Action
When St. Paul spoke of the appearance of the “lawless one”, he ended his discourse with the antidote to the Antichrist’s deception:
God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth… Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. (2 Thess 2:13, 15)
Jesus said, “I am the Truth” and Truth is under full assault today as never before. When governments are beginning to call the castration of little boys or mastectomy of growing girls “gender-affirming care”, that’s when you know that we are navigating raw evil.
Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard, the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Is 5:20). —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium Vitae, “The Gospel of Life”, n. 58
Do you see now why I warned how political correctness is tied to the Great Apostasy?[3]cf. Political Correctness and the Great Apostasy Political correctness is nothing other than psychological warfare to make otherwise good men afraid to call evil what is passed for good, and good what is framed as evil. As St. John Bosco once said, “The power of evil men lives on the cowardice of the good.” Hold fast to the truth that has been handed on to us; for you will be holding on to He, who is Truth! If it costs you your reputation, your job, your life — then blessed are you. Blessed are you!
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. (Luke 6:22-23)
And dear friends, reject the sophistries presented now, even by bishops and cardinals,[4]eg. “Cdl. McElroy’s pro-LGBT heterodoxy ignores Catholic teaching and the physical harms of sodomy”, lifesitenews.com that…
…dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way. —POPE PIUS X, The Oath Against Modernism, Sept. 1st, 1910; papalencyclical
The cost of defending the truth today is becoming very, very real, even in North America.[5]eg. “Catholic School Boy Who Was Kicked Out of School for Saying There Are Only Two Genders Is Arrested”, February 5th, 2023; cf. gatewaypundit.com Which is why we need to pray in order to have the courage to act.
In the end, Truth will prevail over the Antichrist. Truth will be his sentence. Truth will be vindicated.[6]cf. Vindication and Glory and The Vindication of Wisdom
For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who [indeed] is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:3-5)
Still, if the Antichrist is going to reign for ‘three and a half years’, according to Scripture and Tradition, how will the Church ever survive without being martyred out of existence? According to the Bible, God will physically preserve His Church. That, in the next reflection…
Related Reading
The Great Refuge and Safe Harbour
Compromise: The Great Apostasy
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Footnotes
| ↑1 | Luke 18:1 |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | cf. The Great Refuge and Safe Harbour |
| ↑3 | cf. Political Correctness and the Great Apostasy |
| ↑4 | eg. “Cdl. McElroy’s pro-LGBT heterodoxy ignores Catholic teaching and the physical harms of sodomy”, lifesitenews.com |
| ↑5 | eg. “Catholic School Boy Who Was Kicked Out of School for Saying There Are Only Two Genders Is Arrested”, February 5th, 2023; cf. gatewaypundit.com |
| ↑6 | cf. Vindication and Glory and The Vindication of Wisdom |