Posted on 01/13/2005 8:10:49 AM PST by Rutles4Ever
(AGI) - Vatican City, 12 Jan - The Pope commented today on the Apocalypse before the 7,000 people attending the General Papal Audience today in the Nervi Hall, indicating that the fight between good and evil, personified by Satan, is a very hard one, as shown by the manifold violence and injustice in the world today, however the outcome is certain, evil will be vanquished. Pope John Paul II explained, "God and the Lamb, Christ, surrounded by the 'Council of the Crown', are judging human history in good and evil, but showing us however the ultimate end in salvation and glory. The songs which are found in the Apocalypse and which serve to illustrate the issue of divine glory which regulates the flux, often disconcerting, of the tide of human events". Of great significance is the first part of the hymn intoned by the 24 ancients who seem to incarnate the chosen people in their two historic stages, the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Church. The Pope continued, Satan, the original adversary, who accused our brothers in the heavenly court, has now been cast down from heaven and therefore no longer has great power. He knows he has not much time left because history is about to see a radical turning point in freedom from evil and therefore he is reacting full of great fury. And then the resurrected Christ will rise up, whose blood is the principle of salvation and who received from the Father royal power over the entire universe, in Him are centred salvation, strength and the kingdom of our God. In his victory are associated the Christian martyrs who chose the path of the cross, not yielding to evil and it virulence, but delivering themselves to the Father and uniting themselves to the death of Christ by means of a testimony of donation and courage which brought them to give up life in order to die". He concluded, "the words of the Apocalypse regarding those who have vanquished Satan and evil through the blood of the Lamb, echo also in the splendid prayer attributed to the Christian martyr Simeon, from Seleucia-Ctesifonte in Persia, 'I will receive life without pain, worry, anguish, persecutor, persecuted, oppressor, oppressed, tyrant or victim, there I will see no threat of king, or terror of prefects, no-one will quote me in court or terrorise me and no-one will drag me or scare me". (AGI) . 121425 GEN 05
Always a good point. From a pre-tribulation rapture viewpoint, if you live on earth through the Great Tribulation, you've got bigger problems than the judgement going on around you.
My guess is that it not necessarily "dem dang yunguns" the Pope has in mind... meanwhile, keep praying for him.
Great article, and many thanks for the ping! We must pray for the Pope, for each other, and for ourselves!
bttt
Yea. I'm a protestant so end-times talk is discussed. What was so extraordinary? That he talked about it at all is out of the ordinary or what?
"Time left" could also be interpreted from the devil's perspective in aeviternity. From that perspective, earthly time will always be relatively short.
Thanks for the post. His mind certainly seems to be working well.
P-I-N-G
Yeah, it's pretty unusual. The Church is extremely loathe to prognosticate the future with regard to Revelation. The essence is that Christ will triumph over Satan when all is said and done.
Aquinasfan makes a good point regarding the perspective of time from the eternal standpoint. The second millienium may have been just the opening act for the third millenium. But the urgency of the messages of Fatima, Lourdes, LaSallette, and other accepted apparitions of the Virgin Mary, coupled with events going on around us (natural disasters, accelerating social decay, rejection of God in Europe and certain segments of our culture, the rise of al Qaeda and Iran) the invocation of the Apocalypse was not taken lightly, I assure you.
Things are not quite the same as they were in the 11th century..
How ever I don't see where it says who is on the winning side. To be on the winning side takes work faith and belief. Lots of people are not going to be there....This is not an all inclusive vacation.....
Agreed. Thanks for the ping, Jigs. :p
The winning side are all those who followed Christ. Whether they are martyred or die peacefully... I'm not implying that there's any guarantee of any particular person's salvation. I'm Catholic, so I don't believe faith exists without the works to fuel it. We are justified by faith, but faith can whither away if we are spiritually sedentary. Hence, the need for works. We can have faith like a streamlined NASCAR engine, but if we don't fill the tank with gasoline (works) it's just going to get us (or anyone else around us) anywehere.
We must also remember that the 3rd secret of Fatima, given to Sr. Lucianne (?), has been revealed to this Pope.
What's taking this stupid Apocalypse so long.. Let's go already.
He doesn't exactly make me happy either
I prefer Reagan's EVIL EMPIRE TEAR DOWN THIS WALL APPROACH the one that gave all the liberals and a goodly number of GOPers apoplexy
This article says a lot about the Pope himself
After the Soviet Union fell ( thank you Reagan ) and since the Pope survived an assassination attempt I think he believed he was put here for some kind of divine crusade and a messianic complex took over
Hence his traveling all over the world ( for naught ) India Cuba etc etc thinking he was going to bring about some similar result as the Soviet Union falling
It didn't happen and things got even worse
Christian being murdered and persecuted in muslim countries
No end in sight in the ME among the Jews and Arabs ( despite the Pope meeting with Arafat )
His own flock savaged by scandalous priests
The Pope is now old and beaten down by events and failing health so he is clocking himself in prophecy to avoid losing faith and hope
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