The Programme

It is not therefore a matter of inventing
a “new programme.”
The programme already exists:
it is the plan found in the Gospel
and in the living Tradition…
—POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II,
Novo Millennio Inuente, n. 29

There is a simple but profound “programme” that God is bringing to fulfillment in these times. It is to prepare for Himself a spotless Bride; a remnant that is holy, that has broken with sin, that embodies the restoration of the Divine Will that Adam forfeited at the beginning of time.

That’s it. That, in a sense, is your mission and mine: to uproot every sin in our lives and every unholy attachment. Every individual who is saved by Christ de facto enters this programme; they will be purified either on earth or, more painfully, in purgatory. But The Programme I am referring to here is within the boundaries of time and history before the end of the world, what we call the “last times”…

Scriptural and Magisterial

Sacred Scripture is clear on this. The period of tribulations described in the Gospels and Revelation that amount to the Passion of the Church “when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection”^[1]Catechism of the Catholic Church, 677 essentially separates the weeds from the wheat.

The world at the approach of a new millennium, for which the whole Church is preparing, is like a field ready for the harvest. —ST. POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day, homily, August 15th, 1993

Thus, before Christ comes in judgment upon the Antichrist and his neo-communistic utopia, St. John hears Heaven declare:

…His bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. (Rev 19:7-8)… that He might present to himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)

Ready for what? As both the early Church Fathers and popes have declared in various terms: the “times of the kingdom” or “sabbath rest” or “thousand years” or “Era of Peace” or the “Resurrection of the Church” and even a “middle coming” of Christ. What is clear is that the popes, observing unanimously that “those dark times seem to have come which were foretold by St. Paul”,^[2]Pope Leo XIII; cf. Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting? have been expecting not the end of all things, but the end of this era culminating in a period of profound holiness.

But even this night in the world shows clear signs of a dawn that will come, of a new day receiving the kiss of a new and more resplendent sun… A new resurrection of Jesus is necessary: a true resurrection, which admits no more lordship of death… In individuals, Christ must destroy the night of mortal sin with the dawn of grace regained. In families, the night of indifference and coolness must give way to the sun of love. In factories, in cities, in nations, in lands of misunderstanding and hatred the night must grow bright as the day, nox sicut dies illuminabitur, and strife will cease and there will be peace. —POPE PIUX XII, Urbi et Orbi address,March 2nd, 1957; vatican.va

God himself had provided to bring about that “new and divine” holiness with which the Holy Spirit wishes to enrich Christians at the dawn of the third millennium, in order to “make Christ the heart of the world.” —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Rogationist Fathers, n. 6, www.vatican.va

This “resurrection”, then, is ultimately a restoration of primordial grace, purpose and place of God’s People in order that His “will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

…every day in the prayer of the Our Father we ask the Lord: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10)…. we recognize that “heaven” is where the will of God is done, and that “earth” becomes “heaven”—i.e., the place of the presence of love, of goodness, of truth and of divine beauty — only if on earth the will of God is done. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, General Audience, February 1st, 2012, Vatican City

Hence, the coming of Christ’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in Heaven” in a spiritual sense (ie. not the fullness of the Kingdom) heralds the final phase of salvation history and the fulfillment of all Scripture. As Jesus said to Fr. Ottavio Michelini, a priest, mystic, and member of the Papal Court of Pope St. Paul VI, Our Lord said to him:

…it will be men themselves who will provoke the imminent conflict, and it will be I, Myself, who will destroy the forces of evil to draw good from all this; and it will be the Mother, Most Holy Mary, who will crush the head of the serpent, thus beginning a new era of peace; IT WILL BE THE ADVENT OF MY KINGDOM UPON EARTH. —December 9, 1976

A kingdom without end:

Then the kingship and dominion and majesty of all the kingdoms under the heavens shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High, Whose kingship shall be an everlasting kingship, whom all dominions shall serve and obey. (Dan 7:27)

The New Testament itself testifies that the Epilogue — the last, brief outburst of Satan’s fury on the Church after the Era of Peace — is against the “camp of the saints”, that is, a holy and spotless Bride:

They [Gog and Magog] invaded the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:9-10)

Finito. The end of time is marked not by the destruction of the Church but by the end of Satan’s long dominion over man. Left standing is the spotless Bride of Christ.

The Third Renewal

As Jesus said to Servant of God Luisa Picarretta, every two thousand years He has renewed the earth (the Flood, the Incarnation), but now we come to the Third Renewal:

Now we are around the third two thousand years, and there will be a third renewal. This is the reason for the general confusion: it is nothing other than the preparation of the third renewal… —Jesus to Luisa, January 29, 1919, Volume 12

Yes, Hell has been unleashed, which is why we see so much confusion, strife, war, sexual immorality, division and apostasy. We may see this as a cause to despair — and it is grievous. However, it is also a means to sift and purify the Church as though by fire. As Russian Orthodox priest Fr. Seraphim Rose once said:

The psychological trials of dwellers in the last times will be equal to the physical trials of the martyrs. In order to face these trials, we must be living in a different world. —Fr Seraphim Rose, “Letters”

Thus cries out a voice from Heaven to the Christians living in these times under the yoke of “Babylon”:

Depart from her, my people, so as not to take part in her sins and receive a share in her plagues… (Revelation 18:4)

The Programme

What does this mean practically? It means that we need to repent of our compromise. We must seriously and honestly examine our hearts and reckon with ourselves and the Lord where we are idolatrous. For example, not only should we not be viewing pornography, we shouldn’t be looking lustfully at anyone, clothed or not. Not only should we not be drunkards, but we ought to be moderate in all things. Not only should we not curse, but our speech should be pure, gracious, and uplifting.^[3]cf. Col 4:6, 1 Thess 5:11 Not only should we forgive others, but even serve them… and so forth.

What I am describing can be very hard, painful, brutal at times. It is the Way of Perfection.^[4]Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2015 It is a real dying to the point of essentially “living in a different world,” yet within this world.

The little deaths Jesus is calling us to can be so excruciating that all one can do sometimes is lie down on the other side of His Cross and beg Him to give us the grace to simply hang there… to persevere. And yet, our suffering, though united to His, is not the same as He endured. The abandonment He experienced is not the same abandonment that we feel, for we are never abandoned. In fact, Jesus enjoins us to surrender everything to Him (see the Novena of Abandonment) so that He can be our strength and deliverer.

Brothers and sisters, there is no easy way out of this, no way to pad this without bastardizing the Scriptures (and woe to me if I do!). If God has tolerated this generation and its hard-heartedness, that has come to an end. He is now moving to the last phase of this hour — the Refiner’s Fire. A remnant will be left.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand firm when he appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like fullers’ lye. (Malachi 3:2)

In all the land… two thirds of them will be cut off and perish, and one third will be left. I will bring the one third through the fire; I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people,” and they will say, “The LORD is my God.” (Zechariah 13:8-9)

This “now word” is not a threat but an invitation to leave behind the “old self“, and join Our Lady’s Little Rabble, to become part of this purified Bride whom Jesus is ushering forth. And frankly, it is also a call to hurry.

Two-thirds of the world is lost and the other part must pray and make reparation for the Lord to take pity. The devil wants to have full domination over the earth. He wants to destroy. The earth is in great danger… At these moments all humanity is hanging by a thread. If the thread breaks, many will be those who do not reach salvation… Hurry because time is running out; there will be no room for those who delay in coming!… The weapon that has the greatest influence on evil is to say the Rosary… —Our Lady to Gladys Herminia Quiroga of Argentina, approved on May 22nd, 2016 by Bishop Hector Sabatino Cardelli

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1	Catechism of the Catholic Church, 677
↑2	Pope Leo XIII; cf. Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting?
↑3	cf. Col 4:6, 1 Thess 5:11
↑4	Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2015

Scriptural and Magisterial

The Third Renewal

The Programme

Related Reading

Footnotes

Footnotes