May 21, 2011 came and went without any major natural catastrophe, no reports of mass raptures, nothing. How disappointed the people who truly believed that yesterday was to be the end must feel. I feel badly for them. For those who thought the world was going to end, they prepared in some way for it: settling all their accounts and spending time with loved ones (the responsible action), or spending all their savings and partying 'till the sun rose this morning (not so responsible).
All this fuss came about because one man supposedly found clues in the bible that lead him to believe that he discovered the code to the Last Day. One man spent time with the bible looking for answers to questions and thought he found it.
If one man can decode a false Last Day, what other false teachings can be gleaned from the sacred Word of God? It's easy to see that this is an epidemic as there are over 33,000 Christian churches world-wide. That's over 33,000 different interpretations of the same book. How can that be? Didn't Jesus warn us that a house divided against itself could not stand? This is why having an established understanding and purpose for reading and comprehending the bible is crucial for spiritual growth and safety.
A few years ago I went to a Protestant church for Sunday service. The pastor went on for over an hour about how the bible revealed the truth of Cancer - that it was a sign that people who suffered from that disease were not truly in love with God and were being tormented by a Cancer demon.
What?! I couldn't believe my ears. Nothing in the Catholic faith even resembled this gem. In his search to understand why bad things happen, one little verse in the bible brought him to this conclusion (I don't remember the verse). Damage was done that day. The members of that church left thinking that they could protect themselves from cancer by deepening their faith in God (perhaps true) and that those afflicted with cancer were not true believers (certainly not true). The Catholic church teaches that God does not create evil, but can take evil and transform it into a blessing. If someone is diagnosed with cancer, God can use that time of illness to deepen that person's faith. God can bring families together, heal wounds and instill peace through times of trouble.
This is why Catholic teachings are so important. Directly from the Apostles, straight from the men who spent three years learning from Jesus, receiving the Holy Spirit and then dying for their belief in Jesus, straight from the church that selected and organized the Christian Bible, we have a faith that has stood the test of time - over 2,000 years. The organization of the Church, the longevity of the Church Christ himself established, has acquired thousands of writings from Holy men and women, Saints and Popes that lead us up that narrow and difficult path toward an eternity in heaven.
Looking for truth? Look to the Catholic Church for answers. Looking for family? Come to the Christian faith. Need to find strength? Look to the Bible and discover the truth of God's Word through the Catholic Catechism, the Sacraments, and prayer. The truth of the Catholic Church has been tested in fire and still stands strong.
Taking a lesson from those who prepared for the end of the world as we know it, I'm going to follow Catholic traditions and prepare for the coming of Our Lord in the manner in which I was taught: Eucharist, Reconciliation, Christian community, and Prayer. This is how God wants us to live and wait for his return. After all, God created man so that we would live in perfect union with Him forever. Why would God destroy his creation to bring about an end to what He loves?
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