Are we in the end times?
This question has been asked a lot lately for what seems to be good reasons.
I’ve been working on this off and on for a few weeks and in that time there have been major events which have taken place. Israel attacked by Hamas. The Synod on Synodality has started. Russia is still at war with Ukraine. The pressure we have all felt going back to at least 2001 and then in 2016 through 2020 has been intense. We went through some sort of psyop and it’s culminated with these events which we knew would take place since 2020, higher gas prices, inflation, war, unrest. The younger generation has grown up in an environment of chaos and instability. Now, many are asking and wondering, what is going to happen and is this the end? I hope to provide some information and insight for you to use so you can make some sense of what is going on in the hopes that we don’t become scared to be alive.
The end of days may mean different things to different people. It’s different for Christians as well. For the Catholic it is when this age is complete and the Church and God are one. The Church is brought up into heaven, meaning the people of the Church are united with God at the end of the age. For non-Catholic Christians, they believe that there will be a period of one thousand years here on earth where Jesus will reign before the final judgment. Others believe in other ideas such as a pre-tribulation rapture where a great tribulation or chastisement will occur but before that there will be a rapture of the faithful into heaven. For non Christians they probably hold that there won’t be an end of the world event until the sun dies or a global warming event will occur that will wipe out mankind. We have signs we can look to and seek an answer to our question but we will never know until something actually were to happen. We can examine the Catholic teaching and the bible to discover these signs and then examine our world to see if we are in fact in the end times. Of course, we could spend quite a lot of time and research on this question but let’s examine it quickly in case we are in the end of days so we can spend our last few days knowing the end is near. We are told that in the end days there will be a great deal of confusion; there will be a great trial or tribulation; our faith will be shaken; and that man himself will become self centered, hard-hearted and loathsome.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) which can be found for free and online says the following of the end times: “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers” CCC 675. In order for Christ to return to us which He promised He said there would be signs to let us know that the time is near. This final trial will shake the faith of many and will have certain aspects to it such as widespread injustice, false prophets, martyrdom, apostasy, natural disasters, disease, war, confusion, famine and other such things. Of course, we have witnessed these type of events in the past but it wasn’t the end of time. Is this time different? Are we in the end times or are we still awaiting it at some future point in time? Jesus tells us of another key indicator which is the lack of faith that will be evident on earth when He returns.
“Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will He be slow to answer them? I tell you, He will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Luke 18:7-8
Verse 8 of Luke 18 says “…will He (Jesus) find faith on earth (when He returns again)?”. This final trial will shake the faith of many believers to the point where He may not find any faithful left on earth. From my standpoint we haven’t reached this level of unbelief yet. We still have many who believe but we can see it off in the distance.
In Matthew 24 Jesus tells us about the end times. This is where he tells us of wars and rumors of wars, that nations will rise against nations and kingdom against kingdom. He tells us there will earthquakes in many places. He also tells us that many will turn on each other and hand over to the authorities those who follow Him; that we will be hated by all nations. There will be false prophets and they will deceive many. He also tells of a great tribulation which when I started writing this Israel was at peace but He says “When you see the desolating abomination spoken through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.” He then says His return will be known “for just as lightning come the east and is seen far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” Matthew 24:26-27. One thing that must be completed too is the preaching of the gospel to all nations, Matthew 24:14. This may have been done at this point but it certainly wasn’t complete within the last one hundred or two hundred years. We didn’t discover the new world (thank you Columbus) until the 15th century. However, with the internet one would think there is no nation left who hasn’t heard the gospel. So, if what Jesus tells us is correct and we believe it is then this certainly could be near the end of this age.
I don’t know exactly what Jesus means when He speaks of false prophets but a false prophet would be one that deceives and detracts from the truth so that they can enrich themself. The benefit they receive could be money, praise, honor, respect, power or sex. But in the word false prophet is false. So, they are saying something that is false. What kind of things would be false that might shake the faith of many? New information is coming out at Congressional hearings that UFOs or UAPs do exist. This could sow doubt in the minds of many and reshape our understanding of God. At the very least it would bring to mind many questions. We already believe that evolution is a counter idea to creationism so belief in alien life could shake the faith of many. Another seed of doubt is evolution. The Catholic Church does not make it a matter of faith that one must believe the earth was created in five thousand years but it also doesn’t try to definitively answer the question. This idea of a young earth is a protestant fundamentalist belief. We can clearly see that from a scientific point of view that the universe we know of is billions of years old and our earth is about four hundred million years old. Many say man has been on earth for hundreds of thousands of years not just five thousand. However, none of these concepts are contrary to God being the ultimate creator but they are contrary to the fundamentalist teaching that the earth is young and humans have only been around for five thousand years. A religion which says the young earth point of view is absolutely correct turns off many who rightly see that the earth is hundreds of millions of years old. We can observe this through things such as the radioactive decay in elements. If the argument becomes an either or scenario then many would choose to believe the scientists over the fundamentalists. However, the Catholic view on science is that we can believe what we observe and that the matter of faith and science can be harmonized. However, many believe that science is a religion in it’s own right superior to religious faith. This may lead people away. Other things that could sow doubt could be a rise in artificial intelligence which mimics God and may lead people away. Finally, worldwide atheistic communism may lead people away. There is also speculation that capitalism has run its course and that communism will soon follow. Any one of these things could be enough to shake the foundation and the faith of many.
In Matthew 24:12 Jesus says “Because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold.” As those who openly commit evil go unpunished but those who want to tell the truth and do good are punished Jesus tells us this will lead to our hearts going cold. We will become desensitized so that we can no longer feel the pain. One of the things we crave is justice and when justice no longer remains it will be hard if not impossible to remain faithful and loving.
This trial that will shake the faith of many has two aspects to it. The first is that faith will not remain in us and our hearts will grow cold. A scary thought indeed. Jesus tells us to consider the fig tree. He says when “its branch becomes tender and sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near” Matthew 24:32. We can see this coming but we are not in the summer yet, maybe the fig tree is just starting to bud. How much longer before those buds sprout we don’t know but how many of us would believe we are where we are now if we were told what is happening twenty years ago? We can see signs in other places that point to this but it isn’t everywhere yet. We can see in Europe for instance the heart of many growing cold towards their faith. We can see bad people going free while good people are being persecuted. We can see clearly a double standard and hypocrisy. We can see in our Church confusion being spread right at this very moment with our synod on synodality and the dubia. These things are like the fig tree and maybe the buds are starting to sprout right in front of us. The second aspect is a “final trial” where the Church is tested to the point where people no longer believe, is a great deception. This could also be persecution of the church faithful by killing, excluding or martyrdom. It could also be the prevention of truth and the control by government over what can and cannot be said or the suppression of Mass. We can see this type of persecution in various places. These things have been going on for a long time but we don’t see it so widespread at the moment as to say we are in the end times if we examine these two things: injustice which makes hearts grow cold and a great trial which shakes the faith of many. We can see elements of these things but not a widespread hold on the faithful.
Some things that could lead to more of a wide spread loss of faith and hearts growing cold would be that following generations become more dependent on things that oppose God. These things may be artificial intelligence, integrated bio-smart phones, a social credit score which ties ones money to their affiliation with certain groups such as a church, artificial reality and an atheistic government which prevents worship. This latter thing is already evident in some places and it would make sense that a people who were willing to trade their religious freedom for food may be willing to make that trade and eventually not care at all about the faith.
Paragraph 675 of the CCC continues “The persecution of that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.”
This trade that the catechism is referring to is something where a solution will be presented but the cost of the solution will be apostasy which means to abandon the faith. If we were living in a time where money was hyper inflated coupled with famine, war, fire and all sorts of calamities it would set the stage for someone who can provide the solution. Many would make that trade. I can’t imagine there would anything worse than not being able to feed ones family. This kind of situation could lead us to follow what the catechism calls the “Antichrist”. “The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh” the CCC concludes in paragraph 675. We see that man is elevated and the human is the thing which becomes celebrated and the Antichrist is the one who leads this movement.There are many groups and societies which elevate man to the pinnacle and deny God or the truth taught by the Church. In 2nd Thessalonians, St. Paul speaks of this anti-Christ. He says that the anti-Christ will be preceded by apostasy. He will set himself up as if he were God and will show many signs and wonders which will seem miraculous to many. St. Paul says God will send this anti-Christ so that many who rejected God’s love will be deceived.
What sort of thing would cause apostasy and the rise of a leader who becomes a messiah? One thing could be a collapse of our current system. We have seen this before. After world war one Germany’s republic plummeted. Money was inflated and people were hungry and searching for answers. The answer came from Hitler. If our system collapses and the whole world seeks answers could a person rise who provides the answers to our problems? And, as the CCC says would the price for this solution be apostasy? And if it is apostasy then what St. Paul tells us is correct, that first apostasy must happen before the Antichrist comes. One thing the catechism teaches us is that we should also be on guard against millenialism. This is a belief that Jesus will come to rule here on earth for one thousand years.
For me personally thinking of the end times is difficult because it means that I have to let go of the notion that there will always be a United States of America. Maybe there won’t be and maybe there won’t be in the very near future. We don’t know. Also, I wonder what happens to children and babies and those pregnant? They never get to experience the joy of parenting or maybe they’re the lucky ones; anyone who has been parent knows what I mean. I also find myself rejecting this idea of the end times if it leads me to not care about things. We should continue to live as best as possible no matter what we think might happen. I also find myself not wanting this to be the end because we have so much left to do. We haven’t explored space yet and what if we are here a thousand years from now deep into space? Maybe it’s overrated, I don’t know. Exploration of space certainly seems to be the next step in our evolution as a people. This could certainly be the end of days or it could be just another hard time we had to endure.
The thing I do know for sure is that we have never been in a situation like the one we are in now. We have never had artificial intelligence, the internet and the ability to destroy like we have today. We have nuclear power, nuclear weapons, bio-weapons, chemicals, rockets, drones and every other conceivable tool to kill on a massive scale. We also have instability like we haven’t had in quite some time. One thing that is highly unstable right now is capitalism.
Capitalism seems to have run its course, not because it’s inherently bad but because of the bad actors who have seized power like a grown man kidnapping a little girl. It was there for the taking and they took it and they destroyed it. The thing that will come in the wake of capitalism’s demise is atheistic communism. In the encyclical Divini Redemptoris written in 1937, Pope Pius XI warns against atheistic communism as a destructive force. Although it was written in 1937 you wonder if it were written today when you read it. It seems not much has changed. He says we should support the “workingman” and support unionization so that each worker receives a just salary and his pay is not deprived by greedy business owners. He got that right but we don’t do it. Today, greedy business is business. Atheistic communism is a threat to our society and to our world but it could be the thing which comes because of greedy owners who forgot to take care of those who work for them. Today, 1% of our population owns 50% of our wealth and has as much wealth as the bottom 90% or numbers close to this. And those numbers are changing in a way which favors the 1% of the 1% and disfavors the rest of us. This isn’t because they work harder but because the system and their team of lawyers and accountants make it so. They also can buy politicians and create laws that favor the corporation. We are ruled in effect by the corporation and we have bought into the notion that unions are bad and anti—American. However, what other thing can a worker do but unionize in an attempt to balance the scales? I am not a communist but instead believe in a free society where one should be able to own property and build businesses. But in our world the barrier to entry is so high that no one can enter. During COVID small businesses were shut down while large corporations had record profits. All of this to say if communism does come and precedes this great apostasy who do we have to blame? Was it capitalism to blame? No. Capitalism is good but it is the greed which is bad. Pope Pius XI speaks of the need for man to realize his responsibilities toward his fellow man. “He is not exempted from his divinely imposed obligations towards civil society” Divini Redemptoris paragraph 30. This greed is a threat to our national security.
Another thing which is a threat to our national security and could hasten the end of days and the advent of atheistic communism is our debt. Right now, it’s thirty three trillion dollars which is roughly the same as our GDP. Right now, our debt obligation and social security equate to a third of our $7T budget which is $2T in the red. We bring in $4.8T in revenue but spend about $6.8T for a $2T deficit. The deficit is added to our debt. If America defaults on our debt this could be the end of our nation as we know it. This too is a dire national threat to our democratic republic and those in charge, some of which have been at this for forty, fifty, sixty years of their life only to die in office are the ones responsible. And yet, we keep voting them into office year after year. All this has been planned though and we are but observers of this idiocy. I realize I am spending time talking about things that seem unrelated to the end of days but my theory is this: If America falls which clearly seems to be the aim (it is dangerous to say the people in charge are idiots but instead they are ruthless and very smart) then capitalism will fall and if capitalism falls then we plunge into a darker period of time to be followed by the great apostasy which brings us to the Antichrist which brings us the faith of many being shaken and then the tribulation. I for one though believe that there is a way out. There is always a way out. However, that way out is not likely. The way out goes like this. We find a way to increase our GDP to such a degree that our debt becomes manageable. We return to our belief in democracy and protect the integrity of the vote. We reestablish justice and our business leaders like Scrooge realize the errors of their ways and begin to pay people more and they take less. We become a beacon of light and truth and justice around the world and all nations rise because of our good will. Ok, now back to reality. These things are actually possible though but I just don’t think likely. Our job as Catholics and people is to do what is right, pray, and remain faithful. There are a couple things that could be game changers though. The first is that we begin to harvest rare metals that are in close proximity to earth, this is known as asteroid mining and the second is that we could make energy free for all people, we have the technology. There are hundreds of thousands of trillions of dollars worth of rare metals in the asteroid belt according to some. We could have a nation unlike any other seen before us. We have people here who are inherently good, creative and smart. We have these people because we are still a place where someone can study anything they wish to study. They can build whatever they want to build. They can dream whatever they want to dream. We are not in an atheistic communist world just yet. And as such, there is hope. I believe the devil wants us to believe that things are inevitable. That our hopes and dreams are gone. He wants us to lose hope but there is always a way out.
So, to answer the question, are we in the end of days? I would say it remains to be seen but we are certainly closer than before because we have the right environment for the end of day. There are wars and rumors of wars and destruction. Nation is rising against nation. The gospel has been preached to the world or is very close to being complete. If America falls there will have to be a great change in the world system and our national security is threatened more today than ever. We also can see that if atheistic communism becomes a replacement for capitalism then this could be a forerunner to an antichrist which St. Paul told us about. The conditions seem right for the end of days. What will happen in the next few weeks, months or years? It seems something odd is happening daily, so who knows. A couple more takeaways from this is that we don’t have to believe and we shouldn’t believe that there will be a single person who will save us. We don’t have to believe that there will be some sort of Christian nation or world established for a thousand years. We don’t have to have our faith shaken because we know there will be great deceivers. We don’t have to become apostate but instead we can believe and have faith. The end certainly seems near, at least the end of the world as we know it. The more we read our bible, pray and study these things the better prepared we can become and we can warn others so they will not fall prey to apostasy or deception.