“The Day of the Lord” (1Thess.5:2)
The
present state of this Godless world, drifting always closer to the
abyss of World War III, should be enough to turn us to God, seeking His
mercy and protection. But we have to wonder if the time of Mercy is
past, and the time of Justice is upon us.
The
ancient Israelites were visited with seven punishments, each succeeding
punishment more severe than the previous one. According to Chapter 26
of the Book of Leviticus, God had promised abundant blessings to His
Chosen People if they were faithful to the holy Covenant established by
Him through Moses on Mount Sinai. But there were corresponding
seven-fold punishments which would fall upon the people if they were to
break the covenant. These were the covenant curses, or woes.
“So
devastated will I leave the land,” God decreed, “that your very enemies
who come to live there will stand aghast at the sight of it. You
yourselves I will scatter among the nations at the point of my drawn
sword, leaving your countryside desolate and your cities deserted”
(Lev.26:32,33).
And
so it was! Jesus Himself uttered seven woes against the Jewish
religious leaders, echoing the seven woes of Leviticus. They were
rejecting Him, the Lord of the Covenant. Therefore, the seven covenant
curses, the woes, would come upon them. “This generation shall not pass
away until all these things have been accomplished,” Jesus declared
(Mt.24:34). As He wept over Jerusalem He foretold its destruction:
“For
days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a rampart about
you and surround you and shut you in on every side, and will dash you
to the ground and your children within you, and will not leave in you
one stone upon another, because you have not known the time of your
visitation” (Lk.19:43,44).
With God there is nothing that isn’t planned. Friday, September 22nd,
was the Jewish Feast of Trumpets. And the Apocalypse says that shortly
after the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet the Great Sign of the Woman
clothed with the sun would appear in the heavens, as it did yesterday,
September 23rd. This is what we read beginning at the end of Chapter 11 of the Apocalypse:
“And
the temple of God in heaven was opened, and there was seen the ark of
his covenant in his temple, and there came flashes of lightning, and
peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail. And a great sign
appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Apoc.11:19-12:1).
Scarcely
any notice is taken of the mention of the Ark of the Covenant in Heaven
just before the announcement of the Great Sign. The Church sees in this
Ark the Blessed Virgin Mary. It could in no way be the ancient ark of
the covenant, the container for the Tablets of the Law given to Moses.
The ancient ark was of this world only, and it was merely a
foreshadowing of the true Ark, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who carried the
Holy One, Jesus Christ, in her womb for nine months. The Ark seen in
Heaven was our Heavenly Queen, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Great Sign
that then appears represents both her and the Holy Catholic Church. But
few take any notice of this. As Noah took refuge in his ark, we take
refuge in the true Ark, Our Mother.
Now
that we have entered the time of God’s justice, what must we do? Look
at the world! The nations don’t know how to avoid destructive wars. St.
Paul writes:
“But
of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that we write to
you, for you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord is to come as
a thief in the night. For when they shall say, ‘Peace and security,’
even then sudden destruction will come upon them, as birth pangs upon
her who is with child, and they will not escape” (1Thess.5:1-3).
But our escape is to hope in the Lord, and find refuge in the keeping of His word:
“You
are my refuge and my shield; in your word I hope… Sustain me as you
have promised, that I may live; disappoint me not in my hope. Help me,
that I may be safe and ever delight in your statutes”
(Ps.118:114;116,117).
The
world is condemned, but our refuge is in the keeping of His word. We
must not love what the world loves. We must not love those things that
mean death to the soul. If we have strayed from keeping God’s
Commandments, we must repent immediately, and return to the fervent
practice of our Holy Faith, while we still have a chance.
Recent trials may cause us great anxiety and provoke us to anger. There is a place for anger, but St. Paul reminds us:
“‘Be
angry and do not sin’; do not let the sun go down on your anger… Let no
ill speech proceed from your mouth, but whatever is good for supplying
what fits the current necessity, that it may give grace to the hearers”
(Eph.4:26;29).
St. Paul continues with these graced words:
