End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life

by Charles Arminjon

[that is to say, wars, famines, earthquakes], you will know that the Son of Man is at your door."'

Christ tells us that the afflictions and prodigies of nature, which will mark the latter ages of mankind, are only the prelude and beginning of still greater sorrows: "These are the early stages of the birth pangs."7

Thus, one cannot draw any final conclusions on the end of time based on the present disasters and revolutions, the moral disorders, the great religious and social cataclysms of which Europe and the world are currently the scene.

In St. Matthew and St. Mark, the two events - the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world - seem rather to be merged. In St. Luke, the two occurrences are very clearly distinguished:

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish, distraught at the roaring of the sea and the waves. Men will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the earth. The powers in the heavens will be shaken. After that, men will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and glory.'

He unceasingly reminds men: first, that the end of the world is certain; secondly, that it is relatively proximate; thirdly, that it will not occur until there have come to pass, not ordinary, habitual signs, such as have happened at all times, but the particular, distinctive signs He has clearly

The first of the events foreshadowing the end of time is the one to which the Savior refers in Matthew 24:14, when He says, "This good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a witness to all the nations. Only after that will the end come." The second of these signs will be the appearance of the man of sin,

the Antichrist.14 The third: the conversion of the Jewish people, who will adore the Lord Jesus and recogniz...