Basic armour for resistance against anti-Christian powers
This is the penultimate reflection on the Antichrist in the context of daily meditations.
I know very well that many questions are still open and need further study. That is why I will point out again tomorrow in the last meditation that the continuation of this theme will be done in a different way, especially for those who see themselves addressed by the Lord and want consciously oppose the antichristian tendencies and forces. For the wide circle who listen to the daily speeches, general advice may be enough for now.
In order to avoid the temptations of anti-Christian deception, it is important to hold fast to the healthy doctrine and practice of the Church (Orthopractice). The Apostle Paul goes so far as to say that even if an angel came from heaven and preached another gospel, we should not believe him (cf. Gal 1,8).
The Catholic Church has – thank God infinitely for this – a clear and unambiguous teaching. This can be deepened and understood more fully, but it cannot have a contradiction in itself. We only should listen to the clear water of salutary doctrine. To close the ears to fables (cf. 2 Tim 4,3-4) is already an act of resistance, because we do not give room for error to spread.
The morals of the church have not changed.
Sin remains sin and cannot be played down. True mercy does not mean relativising sin, but helping people to find their way out of their situation so that their lives objectively conform to the will of God. This requires a lot of patience and hardships are to be avoided. But mercy can never mean to leave people in their disorderly way of life and even to confirm them in it. This would be a misleading and against their transcendent destiny to live as true children of God. Practiced homosexuality, for example, remains a sin as well as adultery, sexuality outside marriage, masturbation etc. even if the whole world including misguided bishops and priests would tell a different story. Holy Communion can only be received in the state of grace.
For those who cannot directly help people in this or other critical areas, the path of prayer and sacrifice for them remains always open.
Those who stand firm and take responsibility in this respect are already resisting the dark forces, because these – if possible – also want to confuse and seduce the faithful to abandon or relativise their clear thinking and the corresponding path.
If the believers no longer follow and testify to the true way of God, who will do so? Should Jesus let the stones speak (cf. Lk 19,40), because he has no one left who remains faithful to him?
The mission of the church has not changed. It is still to preach the Gospel to all people (cf. Mt 28,19-20), because no one can be saved without our Lord Jesus. “No one can come to the Father except through me” (Jn 14,6). Any form of dialogue and ecumenical effort is authentic only if this clear instruction of Jesus on mission is followed. It cannot be the aim of the mission that Muslims become better Muslims and Hindus become better Hindus, etc., but that they meet the will of God for salvation, which was revealed in the coming of his Son (cf. Jn 3,16). No one can change this, neither the Pope nor the bishops nor any other creature.
Those who hold fast to it actively resist the forces of confusion which seek to distort the mission of Jesus and of the Church in order to integrate it into a general religious structure and thus deprive it of its salvific dimension. In Ephesians 6, St Paul describes to us God’s armament (cf. Eph 6,11-18). The proclamation of the Gospel is a spiritual weapon of attack, because it snatches from the powers of evil their power over souls and proclaims the victory of the Lord.
The path of holiness has not changed. First of all, it is necessary to receive and respond to the love of God, to enter into an intimate relationship with God and to cultivate it. For this purpose, God has given us his word, prayer, the sacraments and much more.
The love of God comes first, and from it springs the authentic love of neighbour. It is essential that we respect this hierarchy. This is also the most important content of the proclamation of the gospel, because it is about the salvation of souls who await redemption and who should come to know the love of our Father. All other subjects are to be subordinated. It is not the improvement of the world that can be at the forefront of church mission, but always the revelation of the love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ and to call people for a real conversion.
“I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.” (Jn 17,26).
The one who pays careful attention to all the four themes mentioned and does not allow himself to be confused, and who lives in the state of grace, already has a stable basic equipment to resist the Antichrist forces and not to be blinded.
Tomorrow I will add a few more points and also mention names from the hierarchy who have kept clarity and given guidance in this existential crisis. There are not many, but the Lord has not left his children without help in this darkness.