November 26, 2011 – Luke 21 - 21:28

Whenever I read about Jesus talking about the end I think of what we complain about. Maybe that isn’t the best way to put it. Jesus talks about things not being all rainbows and butterflies before the end. It is going to be wars, disasters, and other tribulations that will come before the end. We are not to be terrified or worried. These things have to happen. When you think about it, the cycle we are looking at is heading in a direction that brings this close to home. With all the talk that Religious wars are the worst thing ever and that we need to stop religion to obtain peace, the opposite is actually true. Yes, the crusades were about religions fighting each other and the Muslim world appears to be very violent in nature (I said appears because I don’t really know a lot about the Muslim religion, just wanted to make a point about appearances), but the worst wars in our human history were brought about by those separated from religion. Mao, Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, were all non-religious leaders. Those wars had nothing to do with religion, other than attempting to wipe them out. The point is that as the world goes in a direction away from God, wars and tribulations appear more likely, not less. But Christ said there would be days like this.

We know that Jerusalem was destroyed along with the Temple in 70 AD and this is part of what Christ is talking about. But it also appears that He was talking about a more permanent end to things that would be coming. That is why many thought Christ coming was going to be soon after His death, because the of the great persecutions. And ever since then there have always been people saying that Christ is coming soon. And there are people that believe Christ is coming very soon because of what we see in the world today. If you read the above, you might think I am one of them. I don’t think I am. I see what is happening and think that it correlates to the readings, but I think the same could be said for many times in the last 2000 years. There were times when the Christian world was on the brink of annihilation by the Muslim Turks. There were plagues and killed a third of the people on Earth. I think today the “Godless” theology is stronger than it has ever been before and that may mean something is coming, but I also see that I am a practicing Catholic and am not afraid to live out my faith. There are many places in the world that cannot be said and it appears that our nation is trying to limit a person’s ability to live out their faith, but I don’t feel I am as persecuted as I think we will be leading up to the end. So, I don’t think it is the end yet. But be prepared because I could be wrong.