Scripture – The Temptation to Give Up

Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing. (Today’s Gospel, Luke 5:5)

 

Sometimes, we need to taste our true weakness. We need to feel and know our limitations in the depths of our being. We need to rediscover that the nets of human capability, achievement, prowess, glory… will come up empty if they are devoid of the Divine. As such, history is really a story of the rise and fall of not only individuals but entire nations. The most glorious cultures have all but faded and the memories of emperors and caesars have all but disappeared, save for a crumbling bust in the corner of a museum.

It’s only then, in this return to dust, it seems, that we are capable of recognizing that we are not God, but only made in His image; that we are not saved, and very much need a Savior. It should tell us something that it’s the Saints — often the poorest both materially and in status in the eyes of the world — who are remembered most, their names still alive in the titles of cities and streets. 

It’s 2021 and nothing has changed. America is collapsing; China is rising; the West is in twilight; and man is as barbaric as ever, despite his “progress”, as the unborn are still crushed in the womb, millions remain starving and without basics, and the most unthinkable weapons continue to be manufactured. Despite 2000 years of Christianity, mankind has once again come to that night when he must find the nets of his efforts utterly empty.

We are living, according to both the popes and seers,[1]eg. see here and here and here in the proximate times of the Antichrist. And who is this Son of Perdition? According to Tradition, He is an actual man, not just some abstract symbol of evil or a world power:

…that Antichrist is one individual man, not a power—not a mere ethical spirit, or a political system, not a dynasty, or succession of rulers—was the universal tradition of the early Church. —St. John Henry Newman, “The Times of Antichrist”, Lecture 1

What is this man all about? According to St. Paul, he is one…

…who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thess 2:4)

If what the popes and seers say is true, that “that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks,” (Pope St. Pius X)[2]E Supremi, Encyclical On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, n. 3, 5; October 4th, 1903 then we should already see signs of such arrogance all around us.

And we do. The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution or “Great Reset” promoted by the World Economic Forum, United Nations, and several world leaders is, at its core, a transhumanist movement. It is the merging of man and technology to create a superior human being — one whose mind can not only be integrated with all knowledge on the Internet, but also uploaded to a new body or brain, potentially giving man “immortality.” It sounds like the dreams of a madman or pages of a horror novel, and one would be excused for thinking so… were it not that all of this is openly discussed and pursued in plain sight:

…a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. —January 14th, 2016; weforum.org

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is literally, as they say, a transformative revolution, not just in terms of the tools that you will use to modify your environment, but for the first time in human history to modify human beings themselves. —Dr. Miklos Lukacs de Pereny, research professor of science and technology policy at Universidad San Martin de Porres in Peru; November 25th, 2020; lifesitenews.com

It is the climax of man thumbing his nose at God that finds its literal embodiment in the “lawless one” or Antichrist. But this ungodly programme will fail, too. “The Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming,” says St. Paul.[3]2 Thess 2:8 

What does that have to do with the title of this article? Well, you and I, dear brothers and sisters, find ourselves surrounded by this darkening night. We are the protagonists in this epic story — born for these times. But as such, we also find that even the perceived “holy” efforts of the Church that have been built upon the foundations of human rather than divine wisdom are beginning to crumble.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. (Psalms 127:1)

A strange word that came to me several years ago was that The age of ministries is ending.”  As I reflected upon it, I understood that what was ending was not ministry itself, but this age of divisions in the Body of Christ — of competitiveness, of pettiness, of protecting our “territory”, of working as little corporations rather than as a Mystical Corporation. As such, the Lord is letting everything that is built on sand to crumble. And if that means that even our very church buildings will be destroyed, then it will be so. 

It also means that much of what you and I rely upon from the world is also fading, and fast. People are reaching out to us now from around the globe who are losing their jobs because they refuse to become part of “the largest experiment in human history.” Many of us now see in full view that the last days of our freedom can be counted. Even many bishops, cardinals and the Pope appear on board with this medical apartheid.[4]cf. To Vax or Not to Vax We are fulfilling the prophecy of St. John Newman in real-time:

Satan may adopt the more alarming weapons of deceit—he may hide himself—he may attempt to seduce us in little things, and so to move the Church, not all at once, but by little and little from her true position. I do believe he has done much in this way in the course of the last few centuries… It is his policy to split us up and divide us, to dislodge us gradually from our rock of strength. And if there is to be a persecution, perhaps it will be then; then, perhaps, when we are all of us in all parts of Christendom so divided, and so reduced, so full of schism, so close upon heresy. When we have cast ourselves upon the world and depend for protection upon it, and have given up our independence and our strength, then [Antichrist] will burst upon us in fury as far as God allows him. Then suddenly the Roman Empire may break up, and Antichrist appear as a persecutor, and the barbarous nations around break in. —St. John Henry Newman, Sermon IV: The Persecution of Antichrist

And so, we see this — and we are tired. We are worn. We may feel like giving up in the face of so overwhelming a “beast.”

Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it? (Rev 13:4)

We may, in fact, feel that the Church is no longer in our corner — a Church disfigured by scandal. We may feel as though the power of the Holy Spirit has been drained from our very veins and that we are clinging to a phantom in “faith”…

And today, the voice of Jesus breaks through our disillusionment and defeat:

Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch. (Today’s Gospel)

At the moment when our nets are not only empty, but we feel the emptiness of our nets, Jesus is ready to fill them. 

They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

Today, Jesus is speaking over the seas of our time, and says to His Bride: “Cast your faith into the deep, and I will fill you again with the Holy Spirit.”  This is why Our Lady constantly calls us to conversion and prayer — so that we would create the Upper Room in our hearts once again. The Holy Spirit, the living flame of God’s love, is burning to fill your soul again with light and power. 

If you are tired and exhausted, disillusioned and disheartened, then this is the moment when Jesus knows you are ready to have your nets filled. All you need to do is ask. 

And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…. If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? (Luke 11:9-13)

Ask and you will receive; pray that your days may be few, that they may be shortened. The kingdom is already prepared for you; watch! (2 Esdras 2:13)

 

—Mark Mallett is the author of The Final ConfrontationThe Now Word blog, and is a co-founder of Countdown to the Kingdom

 

Related Reading

The Prophecy at Rome

Fr. Scanlan – The Prophecy of 1976

The Prophecy of 1980 – Fr. Michael Scanlan

 

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Footnotes

Footnotes

1 eg. see here and here and here
2 E Supremi, Encyclical On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, n. 3, 5; October 4th, 1903
3 2 Thess 2:8
4 cf. To Vax or Not to Vax
Posted in From Our Contributors, Messages, Scripture.