In any time of great political turmoil and social upheaval there is the persistent tendency to view events through the lens of the “end of times” or the “end of days.” Our time is no different, and certainly this apocalyptic fervor is running rampant through our times.

Although more of a focus in preaching and the spiritual imaginal world of some of the evangelical Christian communities, apocalyptic fascination exists as well within some Catholic circles. As some of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother and those received by other mystics in the life of the Church focus on the great upheavals at the end of time, any period of social disarray immediately evokes end time thoughts among those so inclined.

What becomes especially difficult in the contemporary manifestation of this apocalyptic worldview is that it is often accompanied by belief in a whole raft of conspiracy theories. Because it can be hard to make sense of some of this conspiracy world view, we can easily become dismissive of the root of the message that Jesus delivers in the Temple precincts shortly before the Crucifixion.

“Reading the signs of the times” is key to the prophets of the Old Testament and of the prophetic pronouncements of the Church in our day. As with anything, these “signs” cannot be discerned out of context, nor can we interject our existing biases into the reading. This is what makes such interpretation always difficult. Those who are obsessed with Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and their ilk are constantly riding the wave this emotional turmoil always expecting the worst to happen. Objectively we know that most of their predictions never come true, and when they do, it is usually because someone has reinterpreted a statement and applied it to a situation that has now occurred. Nonetheless, this fascination of foreseeing the future is always coupled with fear and not hope.

The Christian is called to read the sign of the times around us within the context of the Scriptures, but not to use the Bible as a “proof text.” Not every historical movement need to be seen in light of the Book of Revelation, a vision of one of the prophets, or even a teaching of Jesus. In the present, the social turmoil borne of on-going pandemic and the political fall-out associated with it are unsettling but they stand as distractions and not the cause of the challenges that face us during these days.

The current anti- Christian and indeed anti-religion sentiment which has been present in much of Europe during the last couple of centuries, is now also finding root within our own country. Those who identify as “Nones” – that is aligning with no specific religious belief – and those who claim to be either atheistic or agnostic has increased dramatically over the past decade. This is itself a significant sign to us that needs to be interpreted, understood, and acted upon.

This lack of faith, and the persistence of immature faith even among the most ardent church-goers, poses a real problem in the handing-on of the faith to the next generations. While there are many reasons to why this is the case, the search for the why does not suffice to suggest how to address the challenges that this poses for us. This calls for a new paradigm of both evangelization and catechesis, though we have struggled for decades as to how to effectively accomplish this.

But as a more sobering reality, we need to be prepared to confront the challenges and hostility that holding to religious beliefs and professing our faith poses for us. Jesus warned his disciples about pending doom, and many of them saw it come to fruition in their lifetime with the fall of Jerusalem. This did not mark the end of history but transformed the world in which they lived and worshiped.

While for much of the past century Catholic discipleship in the United States seemed to be easy, or at least not too difficult, this will likely not be the case in the very near future. Many political and national leaders, while practicing our faith, make unholy compromises with the world, thereby undermining our beliefs. Non-Catholics, who often only know a caricature of what we believe anyway, mock and demean us, reinforcing negative stereotypes. We have seen attempts at a imposing sort of religious litmus test in Senate hearings for Catholic nominees for the federal courts, even though it is blatantly illegal to do so. We need to be vigilant and prepared to respond to these challenges, knowing that there might be negative personal consequences for doing so.

Jesus warns us to “read the signs of the times.” There is no point in focusing on some apocalyptic driven angst that the world is about to end while at the same time missing the opportunities to confront and transform the world that come our way each and every day.

Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.