While we should not recklessly seek signs from God, the Scriptures (Mt. 16:3) and the Second Vatican Council both assert that it is wise to be able to read the “signs of the times”. After all, if God does offer a sign to us, there could be serious consequences if we do not recognize and heed it. So what are the “signs of the times” for us in this third decade of the third millennium? I believe the “signs of the times” for us in the 21st century are the very signs that were revealed to the children at Fatima in 1916 and 1917. The apparitions of the Angel and Our Lady of Fatima reveal the satanic plan that Satan would try to destroy the Church and turn people away from God. I will like to explore, in detail, the events behind these signs. It is urgent for the Church to revisit these events because unless the Church leads her people to an acknowledgement of Our Lady’s warnings and leads the way to a major repentance, we will still face the consequences.
Signs of the Times The contemporary world is engaged in an enormous struggle between the forces of good and evil, between a living faith in the Supreme Being and the absolute rejection of God. Two years before he was elected Pope (Pope John Paul II), Cardinal Karol Wojtyla on a 1976 visit to the United States made the following statement: We are today before the greatest combat that mankind has ever seen. I do not believe that the Christian community has completely understood it. We are today before the final struggle between the Church and anti-Church, between the Gospel and the anti-Gospel. The signs of the times or contemporary developments that represent what Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) refers to as ‘the greatest combat that mankind has ever seen’ between the Church and anti-Church are the following:
1. The Attack on the Family The family is the only place where the weak, whether they be very young, very sick or old, are cared for by those bound to them through love. The family is the building block of society. If families are strong, the society will be strong; if they are weak, then the society will be weak. Karl Marx saw the traditional family as an enemy of freedom and equality. According to him, the authority of husbands over their wives and that of fathers and mothers over their children create inequalities and are rivals to the absolute power of the state over each individual. This notion that the traditional family was the enemy of equality spread to Europe and the United States, where war was declared on those laws that supported traditional marriage. Little by little, the legal supports beneath marriage have been stripped away. First divorce was legalized; next cohabiting couples were given legal benefits that once were only granted to married couple. Now same-sex unions have been given the same legal status as matrimony. Of course, when marriage is no longer honoured and no longer understood as the only proper place for sexual relations, then sexual immorality runs rampant and weakens family life even further.
2. Increase in Sexual Immorality The message of Fatima came with a warning of dire consequences if the world continues to shun God. The world still shuns God as evidenced in unending wars, killing of the innocent in the womb, etc. Instead of paying heed to the merciful appeal of Our Lady of Fatima, men appear to have chosen the way of perdition. The extent to which our world has drifted from the paths that lead to salvation by continuing to offend God “who is already too much offended”, can be seen from the following: Abortion has been legalized in many countries of the world and where it is not legal, illegal ones continue almost on daily basis.
In many countries in the socalled civilised world, there has been a redefinition of marriage to include gay-marriages, co-habitation and other forms of immoral unions, so much so that one can say that, to paraphrase the statement of Billy Graham with reference to his comments on the sins of immorality in the United States, if God does not punish the world for its sins, then He owes an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us cite a few specific cases: (1) Adultery and abortion, homosexuality and gay-marriage (same-sex unions) have been legalised in the United States, all European countries and the United Kingdom (2) The U.S. agreed that for better relationships with the world super powers, all the countries of the world must accept homosexual marriage or what is referred to as same-sex marriage.
(3) The city of Miami (in the United States) has been proclaimed a public sex sales city, meaning that anywhere you feel the need arises, you can go ahead and satisfy yourself (even in the church). Are we surprised that recently Miami was hardest hit by the Hurricane “Irma” that almost wiped off everything there like in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah?
(4) Not long ago, incest was legalised in Germany. The Government signed a law that declared the non-existence of incest. By implication, brothers and sisters can now get married, mothers and their sons, fathers and their daughters. The signs of the times and the urgent need to implement the message of Our Lady of Fatima
(5) Sex acts with animals have been legalised in Canada according to a ruling issued by the Supreme Court. In Spain, pornographic movies are authorized in secondary schools and universities. As of October 1, 2017, same-sex marriage became legally recognised in many countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxemburg, Malta, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway and South Africa to name a few. The 2019 Euro-Barometer found that 85% of Britons thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe. Same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland on 13th January 2020. Even after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic when people should repent of their sins, Argentina legalised abortion. There was great jubilation among the people when their Senate passed the bill.
To a stunning degree, the world has actually embraced the offences against purity and marriage which Our Lady warned about at Fatima. Today, over a century later, we see the effects all around us: a contempt for the true meaning of marriage and a widespread delight in sexual immorality. Are we surprised that the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19 pandemic) has hit the world and caused the death of over two million people all over the world, out of which 400,000 are Americans and has continued to spread? 3. Satanism Apart from the sins of immorality, the U.S. have authorised and made public satanic churches where what they call Black Masses are celebrated.
Implementation of the Message of Fatima Our Lady came to Fatima to warn her children that great evils would come upon the world if they did not lead good lives and offer reparation for the sins of mankind by prayer and sacrifice. These evils would include war, famine and persecution of the Church, as well as of the Holy Father. She exhorted her children to become fervent in working for the salvation of souls for whom Christ her Son died so painfully upon the Cross. If we accept that the message of Fatima is indeed relevant today, how do we implement it? The message of Fatima can be implemented in the following ways at personal, community/parish, and higher ecclesiastical levels: Stop offending God who is already too much offended by the sins of men.
We should avoid all types of sin especially the sins of impurity and immodesty, child abuse, injustice, kidnapping and killing of innocent people, corruption and all types of uncharitable behaviour as well as neglect of our daily duties. To appease God and console our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother for the sins of the world for which mankind is being punished by means of the coronavirus pandemic and wars, the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences in Africa and Asia, in union with our Holy Father the Pope should prevail on the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of the United States and all European countries which have legalised all types of sexual immorality including adultery,
Continues NEXT WEEK
