The Apostasy Must Come
There is a lot of talk in Catholic circles regarding whether a general Apostasy is taking place, a turning away from basic eternal truths regarding marriage, the priesthood, the True Presence, etc. So one might expect the Apocalypse might have something to say about that. And you won't be disappointed if you think so. From the book:
There is an old Chinese proverb that says: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So, too, the perception of it. The problem with symbolism is that it takes so long to explain it, for symbolism is a kind of picture-writing. To increase understanding of the symbolized series of events in the forepart of Chapter 12, consider what St. Paul wrote,
3 Let not someone deceive you regarding anything. That if the apostasy has not come first also the son of lawlessness is revealed, the son of annihilation, 4 the one opposed and exalted over all called God or worship, so that him unto the sanctuary of the God does he seat proclaiming himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know the thing restraining [τὸ κατέχον] at present until the revealing him in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is operating already: only [there is] the one restraining, [ὁ κατέχων] right now until he is gotten out of [the] middle [ἐκ μέσου]. 8 And at this time [τοτε] the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overcome with the breath of his mouth and annihilate with the manifestation of his presence, … [2 Thes. 2:3-8]
The “mystery of lawlessness” opposes the “mystery of the God,” Jesus Christ and his Church. In the aforegiven excerpt, Saint Paul implied that the “mystery of lawlessness” would culminate in the “man of lawlessness.” Saint John, too, implied the same in one of his own epistles,
“Children, it is the last hour, and exactly as you heard that antichrist is coming, also at present many antichrists have come, thus do we know it is the last hour.” [1 Jn. 2:18]
The “man of lawlessness,” then, is the antichrist who is coming, i.e., the Antichrist. Relevant, therefore, to Chapter 12 is the order of events, as indicated by Paul:
- The apostasy comes;
- The “restrainer” of “the lawless one” is removed;
- The “man of lawlessness” is revealed; and
- Christ annihilates the Antichrist.