Chronology of the End Times
Endtimes
The term "end times" applies both to the era of Christ's first coming (Heb. 1:2, 1 Cor. 10:11, Heb. 9:26) and to the events immediately before his return and the end of the ages (Mt 24:13, 2 Tim 2:1, 2 Peter 3:3). The definitive Catholic teaching on this is contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church under the discussion of the article of the Creed, "From thence He will come again to judge the living and the dead." [CCC 668-682]
As the Creed infallibly teaches, the Second Coming is associated with the end of the world and the Last Judgment. The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches agree on this teaching. Therefore, The Second Coming is NOT associated with any earlier time - such as to establish a "Millennium." The Catholic Church specifically condemns "millenarianism," according to which Jesus will establish a throne in this world and reign here for a thousand years, and in that condemnation condemns any secular utopianism [CCC 676]. This true order is especially clear in Mt 25:31ff, when He describes His return in glory to judge the nations and to definitively reward the just and condemn the unjust, giving their charity, manifested by their acts/works of charity, as the grounds of judgment.
Until the Final Judgment, the Church teaches that Jesus reigns in eternity (1 Cor. 15:24-27, Rev. 4 & 5) and that in this world His reign, established as a seed, is found in the Church [CCC 668-669]. This is the 1000 years, a Hebrew way of indicating an indefinitely long time—in this case, the time between the first and second comings, a time whose length is not given to us to know. This period is the era of the Church, in which the Holy Spirit operating through the Mystical Body, Head and members, continues Christ's earthly mission of redemption. The Book of Revelation situates this era between the persecutions of the Roman antichrists of the first century and the final unleashing of evil at the end.
Naturally, if a Christian cannot accept that the Catholic Church exercises Christ's authority in the world, it is necessary to look for a time when Christ will reign personally in the world. Thus, at the beginning of the 19th century, some Protestants began to teach a return of Christ to rapture the just, living and dead, taking them to heaven. This would spare them the Tribulation of those days and the persecution of the Antichrist. When the seven year Tribulation ends, Christ will come to judge the nations, chain Satan and rule on the earth for 1000 years. At the end of this time the natiosn will rebel against their King leading to the final judgment.
While the notion of a rapture out of suffering, even death, for belief in Christ is appealing, flight from the Cross is nowhere taught in Scripture. Rather, the Savior said, “take up your cross and follow me.” it is in one's conformity to Christ Crucified that has marked the martyred and un-martyred saints of all eras from the time of Peter and Paul to our own.
As for the Rapture, the meaning of 1 Thes. 4:15-17 is that at the return of Christ (v.15) and the General Resurrection of the Dead (v.16), those who survive the persecution of the Antichrist will have no advantage in being resurrected over those who died before His Coming [CCC 1001]. All will go to meet Him and be with Him forever (v.17; cf. Rev 20:17-21:27), while the unjust are cast into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
The General Chronology of the End
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, following the teaching of Scripture and Tradition, as understood by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, provides us with a general order of the events leading up to the End [CCC 673-677]. These are preceded in history by Chronologically they are,
1. the full number of the Gentiles come into the Church
2. the "full inclusion of the Jews in the Messiah's salvation, in the wake of the full number of the Gentiles" (#2 will follow quickly on, in the wake of, #1)
3. a final trial of the Church "in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth." The supreme deception is that of the Antichrist.
4. Christ's victory over this final unleashing of evil through a cosmic upheaval of this passing world and the Last Judgment.
As Cardinal Ratzinger recently pointed out (in the context of the message of Fátima), we are not at the end of the world. In fact, the Second Coming (understood as the physical return of Christ) cannot occur until the full number of the Gentiles are converted, followed by "all Israel."
Approved Catholic mystics (Venerables, Blessed and Saints, approved apparitions) throw considerable light on this order, by prophesying a minor apostasy and tribulation toward the end of the world, after which will occur the reunion of Christians. Only later will the entire world fall away from Christ (the great apostasy) and the personal Antichrist arise and the Tribulation of the End occur.
Although this is not Catholic doctrine, arising as it does from private revelation, it conforms to what is occurring in our time, especially in light of Our Lady of Fátima's promise of an "Era of Peace." This "Triumph of the Immaculate Heart" (other saints have spoken of a social reign of Jesus Christ when Jesus will reign in the hearts of men) would seem to occur prior to the rise of the Antichrist. The optimism of the Pope for the "New Evangelization" and a "Civilization of Love" in the Third Millennium of Christianity fits here, as well. This would place us, therefore, in the period just before the events spoken of in the Catechism, that is, on the verge of the evangelization of the entire world. Other interpretations are possible, but none seem to fit the facts as well, especially when approved mystics are studied, instead of merely alleged ones.
