“It is not of God to defend truth at the price of charity, nor charity at the price of truth, nor equilibrium at the price of both of them. In order to avoid becoming a truthful destroyer or a charitable liar or a confused paralytic, one better discern” (Bergoglio, J. M. 1987. The Doctrine of Tribulation).
An ideological truth must always be judged not for its content, but for the spirit that sustains it, which is not necessarily the Spirit of truth (Fares, D., citing Bergoglio, J. M. Umilta’).
Why are you so afraid, O you of little faith? (Mt 8:26).
Many in the Church these days, in particular traditional and traditionalist Catholics, as well as Evangelical Christians, predominantly located in America and in the Anglo-Saxon world, believe that we are fast approaching the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. They speak, both in content and in tone, as though the end of the world is nigh. However, these Catholics and Christians are mistaken in both their ‘predictions’ and beliefs, not to mention their desires.
This is not the time of the Second Coming; the exact time and day of which is not even known to Christ, but to the Father alone. It is the time of the Third Passover, the crossing over from the era of sin and disorder into the era of holiness, peace, and order; the era of joy on earth, the Reign of the Divine Will.
A few indicators below once again, therefore, for the more skeptical, from the timeline of salvation history, to dispel the confusion that continues to be present on this issue.
Before the Second Coming:
Several point to the current period of generalized (and increasing) apostasy from the Faith as the indicator that the Second Coming is near. Again, however, these people are missing one simple fact: Two periods of generalized apostasy will take place before the Second Coming, not one. The first period is happening now. The second period will not happen before #1 through #5 above have occurred and been completed in time.
Thus, the conflation of the first period of apostasy with the second period is an outright error and a gross misunderstanding of the location of our present time in salvation history. It is a misunderstanding born of fear (which always originates with Satan), not of faith (which always originates with God). An error born of vincible or invincible ignorance.
Further, the coming of the Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” (#2 above; the era of peace) has not yet occurred. This coming refers not to the (visible) Second Coming of Christ in glory, but to the (invisible) coming of the Kingdom within the heart of the soul (the nous) of man. It is the period of the intermediate coming that is (1) the commencement of deification, (2) the reign of the Father on earth, with everyone being able to hear Him and know that He is, indeed, their Father; (3) the temporary chaining of Satan and his demons by the Archangel Michael for a period of time, so that peace can truly reign on earth; (4) the Eucharistic reign whereby Adoration will once again become central to the prayer life of humankind and of the Church in every single part of the world, (5) the reign of the Holy Spirit and the consequent onset of the Second Pentecost, which will parallel the First Pentecost in terms of the stupefying and visible miracles that will occur; and (6) the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is all still the era of Divine Mercy.
What humanity is going through right now is the period of the Third Passover, which is the necessary period of purification before illumination occurs, so that deification can commence.
A couple of points to consider when discerning demagoguery from piety, under the rationalizations of evangelization and the presentation of the One, True Faith:
The Devil is the father of lies and he knows both Scripture inside out and the sayings of all the saints.
Discern contexts carefully to not end up being deceived.
How to determine the true path
The question has been asked, “How can we know which one is the true Church and which one is the false church in the confusion that is arising?” The short answer is simple.
As evidenced in Sacred Scripture, Jesus Christ said, “I say to you, ‘You are Peter and on this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. Whatsoever you shall bind upon the earth, it shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose upon the earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven'” (Mt 16:18-19). Thus, Saint Ambrose said, “Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia, ibi Deus [Where there is Peter, there is the Church and there is God],” because Peter – the Pope – is the Rock, the guarantor of the Faith, and this by divine appointment. Christ Himself prays to the Almighty Father for the Pope.
Several, ‘cognoscenti’ and otherwise, with an attempt at strength in numbers, have claimed (and continue to claim) that the current Peter – that is, Pope Francis – is propagating heresies. But the very premise upon which their claims stand is false because Christ Himself, Who is God, has declared the true Church to be indefectible. The Pope is, thus, himself indefectible in terms of the Faith and what is needed to be saved precisely because the Church is indefectible. This is true not just when the Pope teaches ex cathedra under the charism of infallibility, but also when he teaches non-infallibly, albeit not at the personal level.
The guarantor of the Faith, the Rock, can never fall into the grave sins of apostasy, heresy or schism, because he is safeguarded from doing so by the prevenient grace of God – operating grace. Throughout the entire history of the Catholic Church, in which resides the fullness of the Church established by Jesus Christ, no canonically-elected Pope has ever fallen into any one of these three sins or combination thereof while reigning as Pope, despite repeated claims to the contrary, precisely because of this ongoing gift of prevenient grace. Those who claim otherwise are either inadequately schooled in the actual particulars of history or wilfully misunderstanding history.
The above-referenced gift of grace, granted to Peter and each one of his successors, will keep on being granted to their successors until the end of all time. It is not provided by God for the personal benefit of the Pope. It is provided for the benefit of humanity, so that the ark of salvation, which is the Church, never fails and the gates of Hell do not prevail against it.
The true Church, therefore, can easily be discerned to be where the Pope is, not where some might claim or desire it to be, because it is the Pope and no one else who has been granted the divine gifts of the charism of truth and the charism of a faith that never fails.
Not every kind of ignorance is the cause of sin, but that alone which removes the knowledge which would prevent the sinful act…This may happen on the part of the ignorance itself, because, to wit, this ignorance is voluntary, either directly, as when a man wishes of set purpose to be ignorant of certain things that he may sin the more freely; or indirectly, as when a man, through stress of work or other occupations, neglects to acquire the knowledge which would restrain him from sin. For such like negligence renders the ignorance itself voluntary and sinful, provided it be about matters one is bound and able to know (Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I-II, q. 76, a.1, a.3).
I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that [the] Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe. The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day. Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Similarly, these dreamers nevertheless also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings. Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals. Woe to them! They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted. They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever. Enoch, of the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said, “Behold, the Lord has come with his countless holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the harsh words godless sinners have uttered against him.” These people are complainers, disgruntled ones who live by their desires; their mouths utter bombast as they fawn over people to gain advantage.
But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they told you, “In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.” These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.
To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory, to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come (Jude 1:5-25).
My people are gone into captivity because they have no understanding. Its nobles are famished, its masses are parched with thirst. Therefore Hell enlarges its throat and opens its mouth beyond measure; down into it go nobility and masses, tumult and revelry. All shall be abased, each one brought low, and the eyes of the haughty shall be humbled. But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted by judgment; by justice the Holy God shall be shown to be holy. Then shall the lambs graze as at pasture and young goats shall eat in the ruins of the rich.
Woe unto them who draw iniquity with cords of perversity and sin as if with cart ropes! Who say, “Let him make haste; let him speed his work that we may see it. And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!” Woe unto them who call evil good and good evil; who change darkness to light and light into darkness; who change bitter to sweet and sweet into bitter! Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them who are mighty to drink wine and masters of mingling strong drink! Those who acquit guilt for bribes and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall rot and their blossom shall go up as dust. For they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of hosts and scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel (Is 5:13-24).
They would not grasp the love of the truth which could have saved them. This is the reason why God is sending a power to delude them and make them believe what is untrue. To condemn all who refused to believe in the truth and chose wickedness instead (2 Thes 2:10-12).
The world remains asleep, profoundly mired in its deceptions, despite the increasing warnings given by God to rouse humankind. It does not want to hear and it does not want to see. Above all, it does not want to admit, because it does not want to change. Such is the reality of our present world. Despite all that has occurred, is occurring, and will continue to occur with ever-growing frequency, the world remains profoundly lethargic and seemingly content in its torpor.
How long do you expect this state of affairs to last, before retribution is meted out by the Divine Justice? Man deliberately rejecting the Father, His Son, and Their Holy Spirit to continue rebuilding the tower of Babel, in a renewed attempt to take for himself the power of God and become god without the need for God? Such an attempt has been repeatedly made both throughout history and before history itself began. But it has always failed, despite those who believed otherwise, including those whose natures were higher than our own and who believed they knew better than God.
What makes you think, therefore, O man, that you are going to succeed in your endeavor this time around? Or do you intend to continue to attempt to rewrite history? Have you become so full of yourself, so blinded, that it has become impossible for you to comprehend even the most basic facts? The love and mercy of God the Almighty Father are infinite; that is true. But it is equally true of His Righteousness and Justice. How long, therefore, do you think you can provoke God with deliberate and, at times, overtly malicious intent without sorrow for what you keep on doing, without bringing down upon yourself and on others consequences for what is truly in your heart?
O man, how you have allowed yourself to be deceived! To what extent have you bought into the lie! How blind you have become, you who were once clothed with the light of splendor – the Divine Light; bought for you through the pain of the Cross, precisely so that you could be robed once again with the light that was lost at the beginning of time! How can you have let your senses become so thoroughly appropriated by the Evil One that you now think of darkness as light, and of true light as darkness? By what contortions of reason disjointed from the One, True Faith – reified reason – can you ever hope to obtain light from darkness, given that darkness can never give out true light, since only the Light and Life Himself can create and provide that which you seek without end?
The Divine Heart of God the Father Encompassing All Hearts 