Strange Signs, the End Times and YOU

Fr Zed takes on the 'End Times' doomsayers, just as Mr Shaw did a few days ago, The Enduring Attraction of the End Times.

From Fr Z's Blog

What times we are seeing.

• Benedict abdicated and lightning struck the dome of St. Peter’s.
• A Jesuit is elected.  A Jesuit, who trashes the symbols of office and sows confusion.
• Catholics vote for pro-abortion politicians.
• Total eclipses draw an X over the the Madrid fault of these USA.
• Conferences of bishops, on the basis of a footnote, openly advocate Communion for people the state of mortal sin.
• Leading and visible prelates actively support and cover for sodomites.
• Heavenly messages to Popes and Saints and also from the Mother of God point to the end of an era around our time now.
• Flawless red heifers can now be bred in Israel, signaling the foundation of a Third Temple.
• Demographic shifts suggest that a great Apostasy is taking place among the rank and file of those who hail from Christian backgrounds.
• And… Holy Church remains Authoritative, Infallible, Indefectible and One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic.

At BeliefNet I read…

Fish in the Dead Sea and a Snake in the Wailing Wall: Signs of the End Times Appear in Jerusalem

Are the end times upon us? According to those keeping a close eye on the strange happenings in Israel, the answer might well be “yes.” Predictions about the end of the world seem to appear every time there is an unusual celestial phenomenon, such as a lunar eclipse or a comet’s arrival, but the eerie signs in Israel are both more common and more bizarre.

The first of the three strange occurrences was the birth of the first “red heifer in 2,000 years.” The calf in question was given an “extensive examination” to see if she was actually “blemish free” as is specified in the Bible. According to end times literature, the red calf “brings the promise of reinstating Biblical purity to the world” and will be sacrificed prior to the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem. Rabbinical experts have found that the calf is “without blemish” as defined by Scripture and thus is a “viable candidate for the Biblical red heifer.”

The birth of a calf seems commonplace, but the second oddity in Israel has baffled scientists across the world. The Dead Sea is known for its overwhelming salinity. The extraordinary abundance of salt in the water makes it both a popular tourist destination and an environment that is completely inhospitable to almost every form of life on the planet. The sinkholes around its edges, however, have inexplicably been filled with fish. Where the fish have come from is unknown, and they have been joined by the return of vegetation to the otherwise barren area. This fits the prophet Ezekiel’s claims that the Dead Sea and the area around it would flourish with life before the world came to an end. [Ezekiel 47:9 – Also, as levels of the Dead Sea drop, sinkholes are being discovered with fish! However, it seems that there are underground freshwater aquifers which reduce the salinity in those sinkholes, creating microclimates.   Still: there are death defying fish in the Dead Sea: 37% salinity.]

The final eerie happening in Israel is enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most skeptical. A snake crawled out of the stones of the Wailing Wall, one of Israel’s holiest sites. Worshipers, understandably, “panic[ed].” The snake was identified as a coin-marked snake, or leaden-colored racer, and it was not a small specimen either. [Hemorrhosis nummifer! As opposed to other slitheries such as Sphaleros jesuiticus.] Rough estimates place it at over three feet long. The appearance of the snake was not the first frightening incident to take place at the Wailing Wall this year, as a falling stone nearly crushed a women praying below in July 2018. That said, there is something more ominous about the unexpected appearance of the animal so often associated with evil in the Bible in a place that is meant to be filled with worship.   [Yeah… I sure know how that feels.   Hey.  I just had a thought: Is the Bronx Zoo Cobra Jewish?  He gets out and around.]

What precisely these signs mean, if anything, is up for debate, but there is no doubt that end of the world bloggers have just received more than enough material to keep them busy through the end of the year. [Maybe to the end of the day.] There are also a lot of people undoubtedly grabbing for their Bibles in order to refresh themselves on the signs of the end times, just in case more of them appear. [As is only right to do!]

How much attention we give to these matters and what they mean is itself a matter for debate.

Every generation of Christian has known itself to be in The End Times, because it is.  Since the Lord Ascended, we are in the End Times.

However, one of these days, the Times will be “Endier” than others.

One way or another, you are going before the Lord, the Just Judge, the King of Fearful Majesty.   You will be JUDGED.   Nothing can be hidden from Him.  Nothing left unrevealed.  Everything will be brought into the open.

If you die before the End, you will experience your Particular Judgment.  Every thought, deed, omission – everything – HEY BISHOPS! YOU READING THIS? – will be examined and weighed.  You state when you die will be confirmed for ETERNITY.   When the Lord comes, if we are still alive or not, the General Judgement will take place.   Every thought, word and deed will be revealed and it will be shown how they all worked together in God’s great plan, the economy of salvation.  Then Christ will take everything and submit it to the Father so that God may be all and all.  Then the unending reign of glory shall begin… with you or without you.  Definitively.  No changes of state.  No “backs”.   No.

GO TO CONFESSION.

Examine your consciences every day.

Make peace with your neighbors.

Perform works of mercy.

Pray.

Do penance.

The day will come and we don’t know when.

Pray God to spare you from a sudden and unprovided death, as we do in the Litany.