Apocalypticism

Apocalypticism is enthusiasm about what will happen at the end of the world.

Etymology of Apocalypse

Online Etymology Dictionary

Late 14th century, "revelation, disclosure," from Church Latin, apocalypsis "revelation," from Greek apokalyptein "uncover," from apo- "from" + kalyptein "to cover, conceal" (see Calypso). The Christian end-of-the-world story is part of the revelation in John of Patmos' book "Apokalypsis" (a title rendered into English as "Apocalypse" circa 1230 and "Revelations" by Wyclif circa 1380).

Etymology of Revelation

Online Etymology Dictionary--"reveal"

Late 14th century, from Old French reveler (14c.), from Latin revelare "reveal, uncover, disclose," lit. "unveil," from re- "opposite of" + velare "to cover, veil," from velum "a veil" ... Revealed religion, as opposed to natural religion, is attested from 1719.

Online Etymology Dictionary--"revelation"

Circa 1300, "disclosure of information to man by a divine or supernatural agency," from Old French revelacion, from Latin revelationem (nominative case, revelatio), from revelatus, past participle of revelare (see reveal). General meaning "disclosure of facts" is attested from late 14th century; meaning "striking disclosure" is from 1862. As the name of the last book of the New Testament (Revelation of St. John), it is first attested circa 1400 ...; as simply Revelations, it is first recorded 1690s.

Apocalyptic jargon

Adventism

The Church does not have a dogmatic definition of the sequence of events that will happen at the end of the world. Not every verse in Scripture is asserted as "literally true" by the Magisterium (Latin, "teaching authority"; a single word standing for the "apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers" in Paul's epistles). No one will be exempted by the age in which they live from the obligation of justice to personally repent of all of our sins and to make reparation for our own wrongdoing. The dogmatic teaching of the Church is in the Nicene creed: "He will come [Latin, "advent"] again in glory to judge the living and the dead."

Catholics are therefore Adventists, but without any "countdown to kickoff" clock running and without any definite map of the end-time (Greek, "eschatological") events. We know THAT Jesus will come and make all things new, but we do not know HOW or WHEN.

Eschatology

Eschaton is Greek for "the end."

Eschata is the plural of eschaton, so it means "end things" or "last things."

Eschatology means "study of the end things"--striving to understand what God wants us to know about the end of the world.

The Rapture

• Carl Olson, Will Catholics Be Left Behind?

The dogma

From the Nicene Creed in 325 AD:

"He will come [Latin, "advent"] in glory to judge the living and the dead."

All Nicene Christians, and therefore all Catholics, are Adventists.

How should we prepare for the end of the world?

In view of the Church's dogmatic Adventism, "what must we do to gain eternal life?"

• Repent of our personal sins and believe the Good News.

This is how we "accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior." Jesus is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." When he reveals that He will come in glory to judge the living and the dead, He reveals that He is the Good Shepherd who personally guards and guides each member of the flock.

• Make amends to those whom we have hurt.
• Obey God's commandments and the precepts of the Church.
• Cultivate the natural and supernatural virtues that make us fit to take our place in the Communion of Saints
• Love God with our whole hearts, our whole minds, and all our strength and love our neighbor as ourselves.
• Spend today in God's service. There is a proverbial saying to the effect that yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not come, so today is the day to live life to the full (Latin proverb: "Carpe diem," "Seize the day!").

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you besides.
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil” (Mt 6:33).

God is not going to grade us on how accurate a map of the future we have drawn from reading the Scriptures. No calendar specifying the sequence of future catastrophes has any saving value.

Trying to calculate the amount of time left before the Eschaton, the End of Everything, is a waste of the time God has given us. God does not expect us to follow hand-drawn maps of a future that has not yet arrived; He expects us to pick up our cross and follow Jesus here and now. If God decides that we are to see Jesus coming in Glory, He will provide what we need at that moment--just as He has provided and will provide what we need at every moment in our lives.

At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals to Peter that he will be murdered for the sake of the gospel. When Peter asks Jesus what is going to happen to the Beloved Disciple, Jesus replies, "What concern is it of yours? You follow me" (Jn 21:22).

None of us knows whether we will be alive to see the End of Everything. We do know that, in any event, we will come to the end of our lives, one way or the other. The gifts and tasks that God has given to other Christians in other ages, past, present, or future, is none of our business. At the end of our lives, we will face God's judgment of how we have lived our own lives. It is none of our business how other Christians will or will not be put to the test. God will ask us, "What did you do with what I gave you?"

What should those Catholics who believe that "the end is near" do differently from other Catholics? Nothing whatsoever. The ordinary life of a good Catholic prepares each one of us for death and judgment. Except for a few privileged mystics to whom God gave a special, personal revelation about when and how they would die, the rest of us know "neither the day nor the hour" nor the month nor the year of our death. "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen!"

A Kierkegaardian Postscript

One of my favorite titles is Concluding Unscientific Postscript by Sören Kierkegaard, sub-titled "The Subjective Truth", and published under the pseudonym, Johannes Climacus.

In this postscript, I hazard a guess that I could never prove. It is not a Church teaching but just a personal opinion that you may take with as much salt as your doctor allows in your diet.

I think the apocalyptic mentality is fueled by the joy of knowing something that other people do not know. There is a special kind of pleasure in possessing knowledge known only to a few and hidden from the many. You can hear and feel the exultation of the preachers who say, "We know how this story ends. We've looked in the back of the book. We win!"

The certitude that Jesus is the Victor King and that all who remain faithful to Him will share in His victory is an essential ingredient in the faith. The joy of those who are saved is indeed a "blessed assurance" that can carry us through the darkest times we can imagine: earthquake, fire, flood, famine, pestilence, war, persecution, and disaster. That joy is our birthright. It is a free, unmerited gift from God that is lavished upon us when we are "born again." We should guard this joy as carefully as a sacred fire and never let it be extinguished by any evil that comes to us or to those whom we love.

At the same time, Jesus commands us not to be anxious about tomorrow. If we serve Him well in our state in life, we will enter into the joy of our Master. He will say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servants!"

I think the desire to know all of the details of the End Times is a kind of spiritual drunkenness. Having tasted the joy of Jesus' victory, we become thirsty for more than we have received at present. We want to know things that make no difference to us in our present state. We need to hear what Jesus said to Peter: "What is that to you? I want you to follow Me."

"I'll be living the life I should when I get advanced notice on Monday evening that the 2nd coming of Jesus is on Wednesday, and I don't need to change my Tuesday schedule."

The end of the world will be glorious. It is something to look forward to with joy, because when Jesus is finished with His work of salvation, "every tear will be wiped away" and all of our sorrows will turn to joy. "All will be well, and all manner of things will be well again, I know" (Julian of Norwich). As we "wait in joyful hope" for that great day, we must not let apocalyptic enthusiasm rob us of our peace of mind and heart. This is the great apocalyptic prayer of the Church that we say at every Mass:

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,
and grant us peace in our day.
In your mercy
keep us free from sin
and protect us from all anxiety
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.