Posted on 04/15/2009 8:22:20 AM PDT by GonzoII
WHEN all mankind are assembled in the valley of Josaphat, the prediction of Our Lord will be fulfilled: Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole earth." For they will be in such anxiety and terror in anticipation of the approaching judgment that, if such a thing were possible, they would faint away. They will look up to the Heavens continually with fear and trembling, and every moment that the coming of the dreaded Judge is delayed will serve to increase their apprehension of this advent. At length the Heavens will be opened, and the sign of Christ s triumphant victory, the sign of the holy Cross, will be carried down by a host of Angels and exhibited to the whole world.
These are Our Lord s words in regard to this mystery: "The powers of Heaven shall be moved, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in Heaven, and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn" (Matt. xxiv. 29, 30). The Catholic Church teaches us what this sign will be, which is to appear in Heaven: The sign of the Cross will appear in Heaven, when the Lord shall come to judgment. All the Fathers concur in interpreting this sign which will be displayed in the Heavens as the Cross of Christ. Although the cross whereon Our Lord suffered is now divided into innumerable little pieces, into particles even, yet by Divine power it will once more form a complete whole. It will be carried down from Heaven by the Angels with solemn pomp; and the Angels who bear it will be followed by others, who, as the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, maintains, will carry all the other instruments of the Passion; that is to say, the pillar, the lance, the scourges, the hammer, the iron glove, the dice, the scarlet robe, the white robe, the seamless tunic, the holy winding-sheet, the vessel containing myrrh and all the other instruments that were employed during the Passion, and the object of this will be to make manifest to the whole world how many and manifold were the pains Christ suffered for our sakes.
Now when all mankind behold the holy cross and all the other sacred instruments of the Passion shining like the sun at midday, for the cross of Christ will gleam with a light of unexampled brilliance, those who are waiting below will stand in trembling fear and woeful lamentation. For the sight of the holy cross and the other instruments of torture will recall to their mind all the grievous pains that Our Lord endured, and indeed in so forcible and vivid a manner, that His whole Passion will seem to be re-enacted before them. Then the bitterest remorse will fill the heart of the wicked. But this remorse, how great and how deep soever it may be, will be futile. It comes too late. This remorse is the companion of despair. In their anguish of soul and their despair they will exclaim with Cain, the fratricide:
"My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon; "or with Judas, who betrayed his Lord and Master: "I have sinned, in betraying innocent blood." Yes, all the lost will concur in exclaiming, "Alas! we have sinned in betraying innocent blood. We have tortured, we have crucified, we have put the Son of God to death by our sins." Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, for they will perceive how grievously they have offended against God, but the cries of mourning and despair prevailing everywhere will be in vain.
What will the unfortunate heathen say, who have never heard, never known anything about Christ’s Passion? They will bitterly bewail and lament their ignorance, saying: "Alas! we unhappy ones, had we but known this, we should never have come to this misery. Had we but known that the great and infinite God did and suffered so much for us, how grateful we should have been to Him, how willingly we would have served Him! We were deluded by our false gods. We saw in them no virtues, only vile and vicious deeds. Against the promptings of conscience we imitated their vices, and hence we are damned. We cannot complain, or think ourselves wronged by the holy and just God, because we are amongst the reprobate. If only we had hearkened to the voice of our conscience, this would not have been our fate."
But what will those say who put Christ to death? Pilate, Caiphas, Annas, the high priest, as well as the Jews who cried: "Crucify Him! " and "His blood be upon us and upon our children," all who took part in the cruel, atrocious crime of crucifying their God, will at the sight of the sacred instruments of the Passion shriek aloud in despair and desire to be annihilated. Execrated and cursed even by the damned, they will stand there, branded as deicides, objects of abhorrence to the whole world.
It is not my intention to discuss what bad Christians, who have blasphemed the Son of God by word or deed, will feel at that time; for brevity’s sake I leave thee, reader, to meditate upon it for thyself. Only one thing I would ask of thee; reflect upon this, what thou wouldst say, what thou wouldst most deeply regret, if thou wert amongst the number of the damned, and didst then perceive that thou hadst been the cause of Christ s sufferings and hadst crucified Him by thy sins. Couldst thou now feel in thy heart something of the contrition which would then pierce thy soul, assuredly thou wouldst never again for the remainder of thy life commit any heinous sin. Couldst thou now mourn over the sufferings of Christ with expressions of such poignant sorrow as would then rise to thy lips, thou wouldst infallibly obtain the remission of thy sins. Wherefore, frequently adore thy crucified Saviour, call to mind His sufferings for thy sake, and recite the following prayer:
O faithful Redeemer of the world, who didst endure such unspeakable sufferings for me, a miserable sinner, I pray Thee let not Thy bitter Passion and Thy death upon the cross be unavailing for me. Impress the remembrance of them deeply upon my heart, that I may have them ever before my mind, and may avoid sin which was the cause of Thy suffering. Thus when Thy cross shall appear bright and shining in the Heavens on the Day of Judgment, may it not be to me a sign of damnation, but of salvation, a sign of Thy mercy and of Thy love. Amen.
www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things2e.htm
Christ rose from the dead. There’s no need for His cross to be in the heavens. He’s living, not dead.
AMEN to that, MY Redeemer lives.
“Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.”
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Put this on the refrigerator and the bathroom mirror. Remember it ... write it on your subconscious mind.
Remember it! Thank you for the Article.
The Dispensation of Conscience...
Hey, this Catholic author was a Dispensationalist...
He still carries the wounds, and will have them through Eternity. I would be surprised if His glorious cross wasn't front and center? He's not ashamed of it, and neither (of course) are either of us.
I hope and pray that both of us - all of us! - see this day with joy.
Thanks for the post Gonzoll.
Misses the whole point (and of course, overlooks the fact that the BIBLE never mentions the cross as being in heaven) - The cross was an instrument of death which was overcome and defeated by the Resurrection. The cross wasn't glorious - in fact, the Bible intimates that it was HUMILIATION, not glory. The glory came when the Great Redeemer and Christ arose from the death, gaining victory over it once and for all time.
The cross wasn't glorious - in fact, the Bible intimates that it was HUMILIATION, not glory.
The cross is a paradox of humiliation and glory.
Gal 6:14 - But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
The Bible states that the sign of the Son of God will be in heaven which intimates the cross.
Matthew 24:30 - 29-31 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
Well, we certainly will too sin no matter how hard we try.
But fortunately my God is alive, not dead.
The catholic church can believe they have special revelation about what the sign will be, but whatever, the truth is We ARE NOT TOLD in the Holy Bible, so I’ll accept that. I’m sure if I see it I will know it so I don’t need any humans to make up something to impress me.
And where did they get the preposterous idea that all those other implements of death would be paraded out? That is competely made up!
You’ll love this thread!
Come on, I want to hear somebody defend this.
What an incredible site this is from!
Not that it is a big deal, for what ever the sing is, the whole world will know that Jesus is here and it is the end of time.
And the Prophets were?
And the Apostles were?
And the Church Fathers were?
And You are?
And the antichrist will do what?
Thanks for all the articles, insight and informative websites!
God Bless!!!
All were humans. The true prophets and the apostles didn’t make stuff up. I have no idea who you mean by “the church fathers”. The father of my church is God.
Now, instead of asking such silly questions, go ahead and defend this nonsense. Are you trying to tell me you believe that when Jesus comes back He is going to wave shrouds and spears in our faces?
>> Christ rose from the dead. There’s no need for His cross to be in the heavens. He’s living, not dead. <<
Do you really think that the author intended that the cross would descend from Heaven, with Christ still nailed, dead to it? The cross has become a symbol of triumph.
Are you seriously surprised to hear that basic tenet of Christianity coming from a Catholic? Please, please tell me that you are joking and that you understand that when Catholics reject dispensationalism, what they reject is pretribulational premillenialism.
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