A Pessimistic Optimist

Yep, that's me: a short-term pessimist, but a long-term optimist, or maybe I should say, a pessimist in the world, but an eternal optimist. What follows should explain this.

In just the past month or so I've been asked by four or five people if we are in the last days or the end times. Some have asked if I believe the Lord is returning soon, or if the antichrist is here, or if there will soon be a "Rapture." It's been a few years since anyone has asked these questions of me, so I would guess many Christians are concerned that the signs of the times point to Jesus' return. There also seems to be a trace of fear, or at least anxiety, behind some of these questions.

Let me say first that we are in the "last days", but not necessarily the "end times." I know, that's a bit confusing, but the Church has always taught that the last days began with the Incarnation. In fact, St. Peter taught this as he preached that remarkable sermon on the first Pentecost Sunday [Acts 2:14-41]. As for the end times, they might well be right around the corner, but we can only wait and watch in faith. As St. Peter reminds us, God's sense of timing is a bit different from ours, but it's all a sign of His enduring love:

"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay His promise, as some regard 'delay,' but He is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" [2 Pt 3:8-9].

How loving and forgiving is our God, that He would wait in divine Hope that we all "come to repentance." Now there's something we should pray for daily. Indeed, that's exactly what we do after each decade of the Rosary when we pray, "...Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of your mercy."

More about this issue of end timing later.

Let me turn now to the question about the what many of our Protestant brothers and sisters call the Rapture. The Rapture is a common belief among Christians that the elect, both living and dead, will join Jesus when He returns and be "caught up" with Him. The belief is based on an interpretation of several verses in Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians:

"For the Lord Himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord" [1 Thes 4:16-17].

Until the 19th century virtually all Christians believed this event would occur with Christ's Second Coming, after the great tribulation. This remains the teaching of the Catholic Church, although the term "Rapture" has never been used by the Church. 

But then, in the 1800s, certain Protestant Fundamentalists and some Evangelicals claimed that the Rapture, the raising of the dead and living Christian elect, would occur either before or during the tribulation. Some have even expanded this to claim that there may well be a series of Raptures occurring at various times with respect to the tribulation.

Any version other than the long-held, pre-tribulation belief does not respect either Scripture or Apostolic Tradition. Mark, Matthew, Luke, and Paul all describe the Second Coming as occurring after the tribulation. Here's how St. Mark quotes Jesus:

"But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky" [Mk 13:24-27].

We find much the same in the Gospels according to Matthew [Mt 24:29-31] and Luke [Lk 21:20-28]. St. Paul, too, assures us that Jesus's Second Coming will follow the tribulations [2 Thes 2:1-12]. 

I suppose it's comforting for some folks to believe they will be raised up with Jesus before the world undergoes tribulation, but it's not what Jesus and His Church have taught from the very beginning. Here's link that offers a brief overview of the Catholic teaching: Rapture

The Church's teaching on tribulation and Christ's Second Coming is clearly described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 675-677.

Now, as for all the other questions about the Second Coming, about all I can say is, "I don't know." I take Jesus at His Word when He tells us:

"But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be Watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, on in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'" [Mk 13:32-37]

If you want to get a better sense of the tribulations that will occur before Our Lord's return, just turn to the Gospels: Mt 24; Mk 13; Lk 21. And, yes, the world will experience severe tribulations for Jesus doesn't pull any punches as He describes them.

As for how we should respond to persecution, I've always relied on St. Peter who echoes what Jesus has already revealed:

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out" [2 Pt 3:10].

But Peter continues, offering us a comforting explanation and encouraging us to ready ourselves spiritually for the Lord's coming:

"But according to His promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace...since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and to the day of eternity" [2 Pt 3:13-14, 17-18].

St. Peter has much more to say about the Lord's Coming and especially how we should respond to the persecutions we will face. Take some time to read and meditate on his words in the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 4 [1 Pt 4].

Jesus, too, prepares us for the persecutions Christians will suffer throughout these last days, persecutions that began soon enough with the Apostles themselves. Jesus prepared them for this in His last discourse by making clear their position as disciples of Jesus:

"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you" [Jn 15:18-19].

He tells them so much more in these last discourses [Jn 14-17], words we should all read and pray about on a regular basis, if only to strengthen ourselves for what we might be called on to face.

Some people find these truths shared by Jesus disconcerting and try to ignore them or explain them away. But we must always remember that the world will place us Christians on the wrong side of history, where we will remain until the Lord's return. 

J.R.R. Tolkien said it well when he described the task of Christians on their journey of faith as, "We fight the long defeat." And it may appear to be a defeat as we witness evil winning what seems to be victory after victory in our world. But those "victories" will disappear instantly when the Son of God returns in His great, eternal triumph.

As the great G. K. Chesterton, in his wonderful novel, The Ball and the Cross, wrote, "The Cross cannot be defeated because it is Defeat." Yes, indeed, Jesus turns all that the world believes on its head. He asks only that we accept His gift of faith, live that faith, and trust always in Him. This is what our loving God has been telling us for thousands of years:

"Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I with strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand" [Is 41:10].

Do not fear, brothers and sisters. Wars and pandemics and persecution are nothing to fear for those who are faithful.