Introduction
To all those who receive the daily speeches:
The present pandemic, but also many threatening scenarios in the world in general, including in our holy Church, are causing quite a few people to be not in peace. More and more questions are being asked, and I too am being asked whether the time has come to withdraw more into the countryside, to leave the big cities, whether the events foretold by the prophet Daniel are coming to pass (cf. Dan 7 and Dan 12), whether the apocalyptic horsemen of the revelation of St. John are on their way (cf. Rev 6,1-8), whether we will be forced to vaccinate against Covid 19 with a substance that also contains embryological tissue, whether something will even be introduced into the vaccines that will make the person sick, or whether we will observed and followed in all our movements, and whether we are heading towards a dictatorship in the sense of a one-world order, and many more fears and observations.
I cannot promise to give a universal answer to all these fears. But I do take these fears seriously and would like to try to counter them.
There are two attitudes to be avoided.
The first is that you put everything into perspective and think you can judge that people who have these ideas are at home in some kind of conspiracy theories and that everything is not so threatening. This is neither a biblical nor a realistic view, because it ignores real dangers and either out of a certain naivety – often coupled with blindness – does not have a clear view of the present situation.
The other is a constant over-attention to threatening situations and a frequent search for them. Here there is the danger of being depressed and drawn into the maelstrom of negative events or those which one thinks one is being drawn into, and easily loses sight of the Lord who holds all in His hands. One does not put enough distance between oneself and the threats and thus runs the risk of becoming spiritually not clear.
I would like to begin by addressing the fears in such a way that I write about the anti-Christian threat as soberly as possible. After all, this theme is not an invention of an overheated mind, but is anchored in the Holy Scriptures and also in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
I am now revising and actualising a lecture I gave on this subject some years ago! Today part 1
Saint Cyril writes: “Prepare yourself therefore, O man! You hear of the signs of the Antichrist – do not just remember them, but share them freely with those around you. If you have a child after the flesh, do not hesitate to teach him. If you are a teacher, prepare also your spiritual children, so that they do not take the wrong for the true, for the mystery is already working”.
It is not an easy subject to talk about the Antichrist, because in the Antichrist at the end of times – according to the expectation of many believers – the mystery of wickedness is to be revealed in all its fullness! Thus he would represent a real threat to the whole world! But the gravity of the subject does not release us from our duty to speak up when antichristian threats become obvious, when they are neither sufficiently recognised nor repelled and even confuse the faithful.
Of course, it is right to focus on Christ’s message of salvation in the proclamation and to place the salvation of man and his return at the end of the times at the centre. But one must not overlook the power of the devil in this world, who – following his evil intention – tries to draw man into rebellion against God, to confuse him and to establish a perverse kingdom of evil.
Antichristian figures may not always be as clearly identifiable as we have experienced in past centuries, when they left behind abominations of devastation and destruction. However, there are quite a few people who only recognised these seducers when the evil deeds could no longer be ignored.
Vigilance is therefore called for. This should be especially present among Christians, because if they know the voice of their Lord, they should be able to distinguish what comes from him and what does not. But it is obviously not always so easy, because Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light and must therefore be clearly identified by the spirit of discernment. As Catholics we hope that the Church will warn us of such developments! But here too we must not feel too secure, for even the shepherds of the Church can be mistaken and fail to recognise and correctly assess the secret ways of seduction in time.
As I have been observing anti-Christian developments for some time now, and notice how they are becoming ever stronger and more global, and also want to infiltrate the Church and is already doing, I feel bound by the word of St Cyril quoted at the beginning!
I hope that my words will serve to be better prepared when the mystery of wickedness in the antichristian spirit spreads ever more intensely, in order to prepare the way for the possible coming of a new Antichrist. Even more, I hope that the spiritual armament, which is particularly needed in such situations, will be consciously put on to defend against the dark forces (cf. Eph 6,10-18).
There is no uncertainty as to how the conflict between light and darkness will end, for the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ is certain, and the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone at the end of time, where the beast and the prophet of lies are also (cf. Rev 20,9-10). But we are called to take up our part in this spiritual battle and take our place in the Lamb`s army here on earth, and not simply to abandon ourselves defencelessly to the increasing darkness! It will be continued
Harpa Dei accompanies the daily scriptural interpretation or spiritual teaching of Br. Elija, their spiritual father. These meditations can be heard on the following website www.en.elijamission.net
