Note that my writings in eschatology and the field itself of study on the End Times are highly speculative. Even for myself, when I hold an opinion on the End Times, I do not hold it as I do the dogmas or even the non-infallible doctrines of the Church. So though my opinions are firm, they are always held by me as mere opinion, above which is every dogma and doctrine of the Church. I also submit my beliefs on the End Times to the teachings of Popes and Councils, the latter being always above the former, and I am open to correction from the Magisterium on every subject in faith, morals, salvation, and discipline.

The End Times or tribulation is divided into two parts: the lesser tribulation or first part, and the greater tribulation or second part:
* first part of the tribulation (lesser)
* inter-tribulation period
* second part of the tribulation (greater)
* Return of Christ
* After the Return of Christ: Jesus does NOT reign as an earthly King, as the heresy of millenarianism taught. The events after His Return are even more speculative, and I won’t be covering that topic in these posts, except to refute millenarianism.

Only the second part of the tribulation includes the reign of the Antichrist with the false prophet (who is a woman). And it is quite certain, but still in the realm of theological opinion, that the time of the Antichrist is in the distant future, generations from now.

[Matthew 24]
{24:1} And Jesus departed from the temple and went away. And his disciples approached him, so as to show him the buildings of the temple.
{24:2} But he said to them in response: “Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you, there shall not remain here stone upon stone, which is not torn down.”

~ The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is part of the Second Temple, which is referenced above. Since stone still stands upon stone, there will come a time when the Wailing Wall will be taken down, and a third Temple of Jerusalem shall be built (beginning within a short time from now).

{24:3} Then, when he was seated at the Mount of Olives, the disciples drew near to him privately, saying: “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your advent and of the consummation of the age?”
{24:4} And answering, Jesus said to them: “Pay attention, lest someone lead you astray.
{24:5} For many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ.’ And they will lead many astray.

~ False private revelations abound in the world today. The first part of the tribulation is drawing near. The first and second parts are similar to one another, the first part being a foreshadowing of the second part. So during the first part of the tribulation, many persons falsely claim to have message from the Christ, and they will lead many astray. Turn aside from most claimed private revelations. Seek truth in Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium above all else. Then during the second part of the tribulation, things will be worse. Prior to the arrival of the Antichrist, persons from time to time will rise up falsely claiming to be Christ returned. At La Salette, Mary said:

22. ‘A forerunner of the antichrist with his troops from several nations will fight against the true Christ, the only Savior of the world; he will spill much blood, and will want to annihilate the worship of God in order to make himself be looked upon as a God.’

That has not happened yet. It occurs some length of time after the first part of the tribulation. In addition to that forerunner of the Antichrist, there will be various false Christs and false prophets claiming to be like John the Baptist, heralding the return of Christ. They are all wicked liars. Pay attention to the teachings in this series of articles on the End Times. Though my writings are fallible and speculative, there is enough information from Sacred Scripture so that you will be able to discern these false Christs, false visionaries, false John the Baptists, and the like. John the Baptist does not herald the return of Christ, rather, the two prophets, Enoch and Elijah do. I will cover that topic in my commentary on the book of Revelation in a future article.

{24:6} For you will hear of battles and rumors of battles. Take care not to be disturbed. For these things must be, but the end is not so soon.

~ How can a battle or war be only a rumor, and therefore be false? Jesus is warning us about the utter lack of truthfulness in the modern media. We must be careful not to treat news reports and internet claims as if these were reliable sources of truth. Do not be disturbed. Remain faithful to the Church and the Magisterium, which can never go astray.

{24:7} For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places.
{24:8} But all these things are just the beginning of the sorrows.

~Jesus is here describing the first part of the tribulation, which is just the beginning of the sufferings of the End Times. There will be wars and battles. One kingdom after another will rise and fall. The End Times stretches therefore over many generations, from the start of the first part of the tribulation to the end of the second part of the tribulation. Even the inter-tribulation period will see much suffering.

{24:9} Then they will hand you over to tribulation, and they will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for the sake of my name.
{24:10} And then many will be led into sin, and will betray one another, and will have hatred for one another.
{24:11} And many false prophets will arise, and they will lead many astray.

~ Christianity will be hated, and Christians will be persecuted, more so in the second part than in the first part of the tribulation. Eventually, all nations will reject Christianity and it will become an outlawed religion. Mass will be held only in secret, for fear of arrest, torture, and death. The form of the Mass at that time will be stripped to its bare essentials, like Christ at the scourging.

~ during the End Times, some Christians will betray the faithful out of fear or self-interest. The sinfulness of the world will increase, especially during the inter-tribulation period, leading to the most sinful time, that time when the world welcomes the Antichrist. Many Christians will fall into sin during this difficult time. But always the Church will remain indefectible, and so the Popes will never fail in faith; the body of Bishops, only as a body, will never fail in faith; and the body of the faithful will remain in the true faith. Even during the great apostasy, when as man as a third of the Bishops fall away, and a large number of the faithful also apostatize, the Pope, most Bishops, and most of the truly faithful will remain as faithful members of the true Church.

~ False prophets include false teachings within Catholicism, teaching grave error, as well as those outside the Faith, leading people astray into various sins.

{24:12} And because iniquity has abounded, the charity of many will grow cold.
{24:13} But whoever will have persevered until the end, the same shall be saved.
{24:14} And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached throughout the entire world, as a testimony to all nations. And then the consummation will occur.

~ During the End Times, the sinfulness of the world will increase more and more, and this will affect many members of the Church. Iniquity will increase among many leaders and members of the Church. Charity will grow cold, among many of the members of the Church, due to the influence of sinful secular society. But the first part of the tribulation will have an end, and those who persevere to that end, in that time period, will be saved.

~ after the first part of the tribulation there will be a time of holiness and rebuilding in the world. The Gospel will be preached with great success during that time. Then there will be an inter-tribulation period, where the world gradually increases in sinfulness and so the sufferings in the world also increase. And after that, the consummation, that is, the second part of the tribulation occurs.

{24:15} Therefore, when you will have seen the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, may he who reads understand,
{24:16} then those who are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24:13 signifies the end of the first part of the tribulation. Then 24:14 relates to the time of peace and the inter-tribulation period after the first part. And 24:15 resumes the teachings of Jesus on the End Times with the second part of the tribulation.

When do the faithful flee to the mountains, literally? Not until the last half of the Antichrist’s reign, when the false prophetess opens all the houses of worship in the world (churches, temples, mosques) for the formal religion of the Antichrist, and all are forbidden to buy or sell without the mark of the beast. Then there will be no way for Christians to live in the world, and they will flee to the mountains.

As the world increases in population from now to the second part of the tribulation, a period of several hundred years, land becomes so highly developed that the only wilderness to which one can flee will be mountains. It is just not economically viable to develop mountainous regions of the world. So the faithful will literally flee to the mountains during that time (three and one half years). “Those who are in Judea” means those who are in the faithful one holy catholic and apostolic Church. Judea is that part of Israel which remained faithful during the Jewish schism after the reign of Solomon ended.

The abomination of desolation is a false Eucharist, one of the six false sacraments of the Antichrist’s false religion, devised by the false prophetess (an apostate Catholic). The abomination is the culmination of ever grave error and heresy on the Eucharist, which developed over time. It was used by apostate Catholics in their schismatic and heretical version of the Faith. It is adopted by the Antichrist and, in his false religion, reaches its now worsened and most wicked form. The Antichrist tries to obtain the worship of the world by means of a false religion, which takes elements from all the past religions of the world, including a perverse version of elements of Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, and other religions, all synthesized into one world religion which worships the Antichrist explicitly. But that one world religion is in the distant future, generations from now.

What we are facing, perhaps beginning in 2022 (if that is when the Warning occurs), is only the first part of the tribulation, which has no Antichrist or false prophetess. Difficult times are ahead. Only those who pray and remain faithful to the Magisterium and the Eucharist will survive without falling away.

Buy one or more of my books on the End Times here.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.

Please take a look at this list of my books and booklets, and see if any topic interests you.