The book of revelation says that the dragon swept 1/3 of the stars from the sky with its tail, which indicates a proportion over a total, which throughout history can be fulfilled not exactly in all places on earth, as in the time of the heresy of Arianism. After all, one of the attributes of the Church, which is in its own name "Catholic," is that it has a universal character, as professed in the second Eucharistic prayer, even though the gospel has not reached everywhere yet. As for the global apostasy that we are currently experiencing, this does not necessarily mean that Christ will return soon, especially because what many believe is that we are close to an era of peace that would come after the apostasy, as predicted in Fatima.
Apostasy and its relationship with the end times involves a relationship of cause and effect, transgression and punishment. Some prophecies speak of an Islamic invasion of Europe, which may align with Islamic prophecies about Imam Mahdi who, following the Quran's purpose of waging holy war against Jews and Christians, will "break the cross and abolish the tax". With Fiducia Supplicans and its blessings for sodomy, the wrath of Islamic fundamentalism can become the very instrument of conversion for the West and even for many Islamists in a kind of reminiscent of the Battle of Lepanto.
In fact, apostasy acts as a pandemic virus that some receive as an asymptomatic virus and do not manifest the disease. Fiducia Supplicans, an obviously heterodox document, arrived on the African continent and its bishops resisted bravely. Perhaps African bishops will not be targets of the synodal mercy that affected Bishop Strickland and Cardinal Burke last year, because the synodality that will be formalized in the synod points to the inculturation of the Gospel.
I think you are right. The final battle will be at Megiddo. But I think you are right about the Lord coming back right where He ascended .
https://www.bibliacatolica.com.br/en/douay-rheims-version/zechariah/14/ A lot of explanation in Zechariah 14. Verse 4 confirms what you said.
This what the angel said. " men of Galilee this saMe Jesus who has ascended into heaven will return the same way" ( paraphrasing)
I guess my world view is a bit different. I agree we should be Catholic first. But what does it mean to be Catholic first? Because we can be culturally Catholic but having very little faith as a society. As you say many Christians have become secularized and I suspect this originates in the world view of the Newtonian paradigm. As you are likely well aware, very few Catholics actually believe in transubstantiation any longer. Many people I have met call themselves Catholic, but haven't been to Church in years. So of course there will be more problems, it is to be expected, especially as the Graces of God diminish. However there is nothing stopping us from practicing our faith, and it is my belief that only acting through faith that anything will change. We still have the Gospels and the writings of the Saints to follow. It cannot simply be a culture of Catholicism, but a culture of Catholicism firmly grounded on faith in the Cornerstone of Jesus Christ. When the Apostles started out they faced tremendous opposition and few in number. Roy is a Jew who converted to Catholicism. His journey is different from other converts in that he has his identity firmly rooted in his Jewish roots while doing his best to be a Catholic. So I cut him some slack understanding that. Of course he will have pro Israel and anti Palestine inclinations, I wouldn't expect otherwise. As well, the current situation around Israel fits Ezekiel 38 very well. So I pay attention, given that Roy is a Jew and a Catholic I think his perspective could be beneficial. I also don't take every word he says as gospel, I just merely listen and reflect.
Being Catholic means that our faith should be the standard by which we live - it's in Jesus that we live and move and have our being. That takes precedence over nationality or ethnicity. In a free society, there shouldn't be a clash between our faith and nationalism because the Church teaches that we should obey the lawful government and a free society has freedom of religion. People can call themselves all sorts of things but a faithful Catholic is one who is in communion with the Pope and follows Church teaching, including the Commandments which Jesus told us can be summed up in love God and love our neighbour as ourselves. Way back in the 1950's when I was in primary school, the Catechism which we were expected to memorise was in question and answer format. The answer to the question "Who is my neighbour?" was "My neighbour is all mankind, even those who injure me or differ from me in religion". My memory isn't great but I'm quite sure there was no exemption for converts no matter what they converted from. St. Paul wasn't lying when he said that the Church is Israel. Roy and other Christian Zionists seem to skip over that. Jews do have a special place in God's heart and God will convert them shortly before Jesus returns. We know that in the last days the Church will be persecuted like never before but we don't know whether the Jews will be converted before that. There could well be Jews among those persecuting the Church in those times as they did the first Christians who were also Jews. They're certainly persecuting Palestinian Christians now and their allies have been instrumental in almost clearing Christians from the Levant. Some of the early Church Fathers believed that the AC would rebuild the Temple where he would proclaim himself to be God. It is possible that the Jews could support the AC and be converted when he installs himself in the Temple. We just don't know. Meanwhile, they are our neighbour whom we must love as we love ourselves. The apple of God's eye, the Jews are special but that doesn't give them the right to act like they are gods. When it comes to murder, it doesn't matter how different Roy's journey has been. I didn't get to his take on Ezekiel because it began with IDF propaganda and Roy justifying Israel's crime. We all know by now that there's no limit to the IDF lies which have ranged from beheaded babies to the Church in Gaza having Hamas tunnels beneath it and a rocket launcher on its grounds. Someone needs to tell Roy that it's the Truth and not nukes that makes us free. Jesus didn't seem to have been a big fan of an eye for an eye. There's not a huge difference between Israel's brand of nationalism and the brand that led to the Holocaust - the most striking being that the victims have become the perpetrators. Here's a Catholic commentary on Ezekiel: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/commentary-on-ezekiel-12312 . Roy might benefit from noting what Scripture says about the Jews behaviour being worse than that of the Gentiles. In the case of the modern State of Israel, that's what's happening now. He (and Israel's allies) might also benefit from remembering the passage from Isaiah where the chosen people were warned about the land vomiting them out due to their atrocities. It's not just Roy who bothers me. He may well be well intentioned and I'm obliged to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm beginning to wonder about some of these converts with a social media presence casting doubt on Church authority. I know that Roy doesn't do that but I think he would benefit from a refresher course on the Catechism. It wasn't just the communists who planned to infiltrate the Church.
I think you make some valid points. Our faith unites us in a universal family under the Holy Father. There is no room for tribal loyalties. But sadly we all have them. I actually know Roy. He was friends with a very holy woman (I have mentioned her before)I too was friends with and I have been on retreats with him. He is incredibly sincere and warm and even I would venture to say very very close to Our Lady. He is extremely knowledgeable about the faith. He has suffered some shunning from Jewish family and friends because of his faith. But like every Jew ever born his heart is knitted into Jerusalem and the Holy Land and his ancestors. I am sure it colors his perspective. ( his immediate family barely escaped Hitler) I listened to some of his talk on Ezekiel but had to leave it to go somewhere. I will go back and finish listening to it. I am appalled at what is happening in Gaza. Horrified. No justification possible for some of the things we have heard about. None. But Roy is good people. And a wonderful apologist for the faith.
Yes, for sure not everyone is well intentioned. Contemplating the Holy Family is a key for us I think. If we consider that redemption came through Mary first, and Joseph second who both rose above the laws of the first covenant. Joseph saved Mary and Jesus the first time when he resolved after prayer not to denounce her publicly. The law gave him the right to denounce Her but he didn't do it. Had he followed the law, She probably would have been stoned by the leaders of the day who would never have believed her story of pregnancy without a man. Also, Mary as a descendant of David should have married and had children since that was the secular (man-made) law of the day but She instead consecrated Her virginity to God - and so did Joesph as tradition tells us... - and we know that this is what God wanted and probably what He asked of them both. And the rest is history. Funny how God was truly in that first covenant but redemption required that 2 holy people seek wisdom above the law... If we could stop listening to men and listen more to God we could get out of all this tribal nonsense. As for Roy and his kin, they do have the 10 commandments (covet not anything that is thy neighbor's...)
The community I live in is known as a cultural "melting pot" due to a long history around a now defunct steel plant. At one time there was a Synogague & numerous Catholic & Protestant churches all in a very small area of town (3 square miles) .....From what I know of the RC churches, there was an Italian church, a Polish church, a Ukranian Orthodox church, and the big church everyone else attended. The main African community left Catholicism and started their own church, African Orthodox, due to feelings of not being welcome at the main church. The Italian church burnt down in the '70's. Rather than join the big church though, the congregation move to a hall for years, but that was finally closed down. The Polish church caught fire and burnt to the ground 10 years ago. They rebuilt, and fight more for their Polish identity than their Roman Catholic faith. The Ukrainian Orthodox church is the only one east of Montreal. They too, are Ukrainian first, and "woke". Same with the African Orthodox. Worship of God is secondary to ethnic identity. The original Catholic church in town, St. Patricks, is now a museum; for a while it was used by the Maronite community. The synagogue in my neighborhood is now a museum, the protestant churches have closed down except for the Anglican church, but someone ran into it with a car not long ago. After many decades of more and more "melting togetherness", we're now told racism is suddenly a problem again. Anti-racism is part of the new "woke religion" The weird thing is, wokeness seems to subtly promote (ie: racism for example) what it claims to despise. Imho, if God was left front and centre where He should be in the first place, everyone's customs and cultures would be automatically respected and shared. Why? Because God loves variety!!!!
I'll take your word on Roy's piety and character. I was a fan of his until recently. A faithful Catholic who loved his brothers/neighbour would be concerned for their eternal salvation and would urge them to stop committing genocide. A Palestinian child is murdered by the Israelis every ten minutes. There are reports now of mass graves being found and some of the dead had their hands tied behind their backs. And Roy chooses to repeat the propaganda of the murderers as though it were Gospel truth. He really does need to take another look at the Catechism and compare it with what has happened and is happening now in the Holy Land. In fairness, there's probably some excuse for Roy given that he is Jewish. There's absolutely no excuse for Catholic priests proclaiming themselves to be proud Zionists. Any failure on their part to unequivocally condemn the Israeli leadership, military and their allies, makes them no better than priests who supported Hitler in the 1930's. From the outside looking in, I also have the impression that there's something very sinister about American Universities and who actually controls them. The same people who permitted harassment of pro-lifers and pushed all sorts of anti-family, anti-Christian ideologies are clamping down hard on people peacefully protesting what the Israelis are doing. That troubles me especially because those universities are educating and conditioning future American leaders and what goes in America is spread (often by American NGO's or linked to US AID) throughout the world. I'm sorry if I have derailed this thread but I simply couldn't remain silent when the lies of murderers were being repeated on a video about sacred Scripture
FWIW I have found that Jews have a tendency to believe their own people first. Maybe it's a cultural defense mechanism, I really don't know. Roy did mention in part II of this video series a couple of quotes from scripture. First is Romans 11 and second Ezekiel 39. He makes the case that the Jews are blinded by God, so maybe this is what we are seeing. I have noticed with Mother Miriam, a Jewish Catholic convert, that she tends to give a free pass to Jews but holds Catholics to a much higher standard. Either way I pray for both Jews and Palestinians to find Jesus, because both nations hate each other. That hate will only lead to more death.
I take it that you are praying for thr conversion of Palestinian Muslims. There are Christians in Palestine and the Zionists regard them with the same contempt they have for the Muslims. The likes of Netanyahu don't distinguish between Muslims and Christians when the call the Palestinians sub--human. The Daughters of Charity mission included educating children. The Missionaries of Charity care for the disabled. I think that the Daughters of Charity sisters are not in Gaza now but the Missionaries of Charity are still in Northern Gaza. When the Isrselis ordered all the Palestinians to move South, doing so was out of the question for those sisters and the people in their care. I read a while ago that they were managing to get three meals per week. I doubt that the situation has improved.
Incredible faith and heroic sacrifice. Romans 8 comes to mind and the quote from Psalm 44 within it. I can't even begin to imagine. May the Lord God bless them in everything. They love God so very much.
Yes, while many of us moan about what seem major problems to us that would be trivial inconveniences in other parts of the world, great saints are carrying the cross with Jesus especially in the East and South. The Daughters of Charity have a website where they give updates on the situation of Christians in Gaza: https://daughtersofcharity-gaza.blogspot.com/ I can't find a website for the Missionaries of Charity.
