Sitting On Our Hands?

A Catholic blogger of some influence has recently published a critique of this website. While we do not feel we have to respond to every wind of criticism, there were several factual errors that provide an important teaching moment.

 

1. First, the blogger stated that the Contributors on Countdown to the Kingdom are open to, if not always insistent on, arguments that the actual end is nigh and the actual Antichrist may be at hand.

Nowhere in any of the writings of our Contributors, nor in a single one of the revelations posted here, does anyone suggest that the end is near. A cursory view of our website and Timeline reveal that there are substantial things to take place before the end of the world, including an Era of Peace. One of those things is, indeed, the appearance of an Antichrist. This is based foremost on a straight reading of Scripture, affirmed by the Early Church Fathers, and substantiated by several mystics and seers. See our recent post: Is the Era of Peace a Heresy? which is a short and simple summary of this Timeline, which is by no means novel.
 
 
2. The blogger states that we claim the “Era of Peace” will be short while he believes it will be “extended”.
 
In truth, we do not make any claims as to how long the Era of Peace will be, nor is there any authoritative statement on its exact length. Some mystics have suggested it will only last as long as 2-3 generations. We have no opinion on that. Our role here is not to despise prophecy but test everything with the Church and retain what is good. In that regard, there is nothing doctrinally incompatible with a brief Era of Peace. Church Fathers themselves said that the “thousand year” period in Revelation was not literal:
 
Now… we understand that a period of one thousand years is indicated in symbolic language. —St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. 81, The Fathers of the Church, Christian Heritage
 
And Aquinas makes this observation:
 
As Augustine says, the last age of the world corresponds to the last stage of a man’s life, which does not last for a fixed number of years as the other stages do, but lasts sometimes as long as the others together, and even longer. Wherefore the last age of the world cannot be assigned a fixed number of years or generations. —St. Thomas Aquinas, Quaestiones Disputate, Vol. II De Potentia, Q. 5, n.5; www.dhspriory.org
 
 
3. The blogger alleges that Countdown to the Kingdom promotes an attitude to: “Hunker Down—and refine your piety in preparation for the Master.”
 
Anyone who has followed both the writings of the Contributors as well as the prophetic revelations on this site will find no evidence of any such mentality. In the writings of Daniel O’Connor or those of Mark Mallett on this site, such as Our Lady’s Little Rabble, Our Lady: Prepare, On Faith and Providence, and countless others, there are repeated calls to actively counter the darkness. In Clash of the KingdomsPope Benedict says that evil will advance precisely when Catholics do nothing.
 
The Church is always called upon to do what God asked of Abraham, which is to see to it that there are enough righteous men to repress evil and destruction. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Light of the World, p. 166, A Conversation With Peter Seewald (Ignatius Press)
 
Earlier this week, the writing posted here On Faith and Providence begins with a Church-approved exhortation not to sit on our hands.
 
All are invited to join my special fighting force. The coming of my Kingdom must be your only purpose in life. My words will reach a multitude of souls. Trust! I will  help all of you in a miraculous way. Do not love comfort. Do not be cowards. Do not wait. Confront the Storm to save souls. Give yourself to the work. If you do nothing, you abandon the earth to Satan and to sin. Open your eyes and see all the dangers that claim victims and threaten your own souls. —Jesus to Elizabeth Kindelmann, The Flame of Love, pg. 34, published by Children of the Father Foundation; Imprimatur Archbishop Charles Chaput

‘Hence,’ our Contributor Mark Mallett wrote, ‘the question whether God is going to preserve you and your family in this Storm is the wrong question. The right question is: “Lord, how can we give our lives for the sake of the Gospel?” “Jesus, how can I help you save souls?” Followed by a firm commitment: “Here I am Lord. May all be done according to your will.”’

 
4. The blogger goes on to say that Countdown to the Kingdom is sympathetic to and promotes voices who say that God is going to round up many or all of the faithful and take them to places of safety while everyone else gets smacked down and battered by the storm.
 
First of all, the “voices” are those allegedly of Our Lady or Our Lord, but also voices in Tradition (read The Refuge for Our Times). Again, we do not take any position per se other than not to despise prophecy and test everything. The following is from Mark Mallett On Faith and Providence: “If your first thought is how you can make it to the Era of Peace, and not on how you can give your life to the Lord for the sake of souls, then your priorities are not in order. I’m not suggesting anyone seek martyrdom. God sends the crosses we need; no one needs to go looking for them. But if you are sitting on your hands right now, waiting for God’s angels to carry you off to a refuge… don’t be surprised if the Lord knocks you off your chair!… Self-preservation is, in some ways, the antithesis of Christianity.” 
 
In a message we posted today from Our Lady to Pedro Regis, she exhorts the faithful to active duty:
 
Defend His Gospel and remain faithful to the true Magisterium of His Church. Those who remain faithful until the end will be proclaimed Blessed of the Father. Give me your hands and I will lead you to Him who is your Sole and True Savior. Be attentive. In everything, God first. Onward in defense of the truth.

This is all to say to our readers here: stay close to the true Magisterium of the Church; listen to the Church Fathers and popes who have already announced a coming Triumph and Era of Peace; continue to discern with the Church those prophets who are speaking to us today; and stay united with your brothers and sisters rather than creating unnecessary division about the mysteries before us.
 
Last, do not bury your talent in the ground. Be bold! Be courageous! Give your “yes” to God to use you in the way He sees fit. Don’t be afraid… the King is on your side.
 
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