Today's Epiphany

Epiphany is such a beautiful expression in Christian life. In the ancient Church, it is marked by the baptism of Jesus Christ our Lord when he was baptized by John the Baptist by immersion in the water of the Jordan river - The Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove on the Son of God and a voice was heard from heaven "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased" (Luke 3: 21-22). In the ancient Church, receiving the Sacrament of Baptism of a Christian was the first event in his new life. In baptism the baptized person receives the Divine Christ who resurrected from the dead and is cleansed from their sins. He would first face West and renounce the Devil and his works of darkness, then face East symbolizing that a new day has dawned on him/her. The Bishop would proceed to baptize the person by immersing him/her in water three times. The person to be baptized would have to answer a question from the Creed every time before the immersion: Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?  Answer: I do - Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only Son? Answer: I do - Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the holy catholic Church? Answer: I do (Source: https://formed.org/study/ from Augustine Institute - presented by Dr. Edward Sri; with special thanks to Msgr. Robert Nusca, Pastor of Holy Rosary parish in Toronto and his team for providing the access code). This experience of the Sacrament of Baptism is the same in the Churches of the East. Some ancient Christian Churches such as the Coptic and Armenian Churches still celebrate Christmas on January 6 - Now January 7 due to the difference between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar.
In the Roman Catholic Church, Epiphany is celebrated on January 6, but refers to the event of the Magi arrival to worship the newborn king of the Jews as the stars guided them (Matthew 2: 1-12). The Magi were astronomers in the first century BC (i.e. Before Christ) who followed the movement of stars and planets and interpreted them according to their beliefs. "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and came to do him homage" they asked as they arrived in Jerusalem. As Herod the King boiled at the idea that there is the probability of another king just born, he sought the advice of the chief priests as to where the Prophets indicated where the King of the Jews, son of David, will be born. They told him "in Bethlehem of Judea" (Matthew 2: 5). He then asked the Magi to go worship the new king and come back to tell him so that he can go and do him homage too. The Magi found Jesus in the manger with his mother and presented him their gifts. In a vision they were told to ignore Herod and go directly back to their land in Persia. They were probably the first to evangelize their world about Christ! The theological School of Nisbis was founded by the Christian community near Persia in the 3rd century. It was influential in Mesopotamia and the East (Cf. John Meyndorff; Imperial unity and Christian divisions; 1989) - Correction may be required as to dates, but the idea is highly significant.
In his homily on Epiphany, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad spoke of Jerusalem where the Magi first went. He made the clear view that the Council of Jerusalem opened the nascent Church to the nations not requiring them to become Jews first before they are baptized in Christ. According to him this was Catholicity or the Universal Church - a concept introduced by the first Jesuits in China when they accommodated the liturgy to the diverse cultures of the Chinese people. It is the same universality that Vatican II in the 1960s also called for. His homily is found in French here.

How does this square in with modern science and the findings of the Big Bang? There are many good answers for Christians today; notably Joseph Ratzinger's "An Introduction to Christianity" (Revised Edition, 2004). In it Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shows that the Church accepts quantum mechanics based on Schrodinger's particle-wave superposition. He interprets the experiment as the subjective experience of the scientist's mind (created by the of Super-mind of God - Read me here). I wrote about the "Quantum Universe" here. In Quanta Magazine, a recent article published in December 2018 shows how a new experiment conducted in Paris demonstrated that quantum communication is superior to classical ways of transmitting information (read it here). An article published on January 4, 2019 in LiveScience further makes the claim that combines the gravitational fields found by Einstein with Quantum fields (see it here). The most intriguing lecture given by Professor Tong at Cambridge in 2017 (here) was a step to another event conducted by Dr.Brian Greene at the World Science Festival in February 2018 (here). Another fascinating talk about Quantum Physics and Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity was given by Dr. Philip Ball at Cambridge in September 2018 (see it here). There is yet a more recent article written here by Dr. Robert Kurland on January 3, 2019  in the Catholic Magis Center (https://www.magiscenter.com) where he questions whether Quantum Mechanics speaks to Catholic teaching. His opinion may be pessimistic. Read carefully The Nobel-Laureate Feynman Lectures on Quantum Physics here and Nanotechnology here. At CERN, a recent report published on December 19, 2018 here shows that new projects are underway and are designed to provide answers to the host of unresolved questions relating to matter and the universe, such as the nature of dark matter, which makes up most of the universe, and the mysterious imbalance between matter and antimatter.
It is a fact that discoveries in modern science became possible through much thought that goes back to the philosophical inquiries by St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great who brought out the so called "Philosophy of Nature" of Aristotle. Professor John Haldane commented with other scholars on the impact of St. Thomas Aquinas that continues to be taught in universities - Listen to BBC program here.
It is fair to say that St. John of Damascus, an Eastern theologian, who lived in Syria and spoke Arabic before becoming a monk in Palestine has influenced Medieval Western Christianity by his theological writings in Greek and was called "The first Scholastic" (Cf. The Catholic Encyclopedia here)

2018: A Year in Review

I thank God for the way he blessed me and extended my life through the work of giant physicians since May 1986 (over 32 years ago). I thank God for my wife and children who generously care for me as well as my brothers, sisters-in-law and their children and those who call me almost daily to ask about my health (If interested see the post in October 2018 here and this one ten years earlier in July 2008 here). I would like to mention my devoted students at Jesus the King Melkite Catholic parish whom I taught "Christian Questions Today" for 7 years.
Yesterday December 30, 2018 was the memorial of the Holy Family. At Holy Rosary parish in Toronto, Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, PhD. gave a homily on marriage in Canada and the West in general where same-sex marriage is legal. He compared it to the sacramental marriage in the Church between a man and a woman that is permanent and open to procreation while love between husband and wife constitutes the way children are raised at home before they are in school. The reader may wish to read it here. Fr. Callam holds a doctorate in theology from Oxford University. Quite active, he often lectures at St. Thomas University in  Houston, Texas. A few days ago I found the conversion story of R.R. Reno (who is now the Editor of First Things) to the Catholic Church (here). The Pastor, Msgr. Robert Nusca - a renowned Biblical scholar, who earned his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and is quite active, commented on it that it was a good story for the faithful to hold on to the faith.
Yesterday too Jesus the King Council of the Knights of Columbus released its December newsletter - I contributed an article titled "The Gospel of Life" based on the teachings of Pope Saint John Paul II  and so did the Grand Knight, the Ontario State Deputy and the Chaplain (attached).
On Christmas Day I wrote a post commenting on the homily at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration by Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO and showing the beauty of the renowned Homsy choir, the Eastern Byzantine Church and its tradition - It shows also how an Eastern Christian Saint John of Damascus has influenced Christianity in the West in Medieval times - He spoke Arabic and learned Greek and wrote "The Fount of Wisdom" which is a collection of the Fathers and Church teachings  -  John of Damascus fought with his pen the Iconoclast heresy started by the Byzantine emperor Leo the Isorian as the emperor forbade Christians to venerate the icons of Christ and the saints (see it here).
My beloved mentor and Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad continues his active missionary work in Egypt, Europe (particularly in France and Hungary) and in Canada where he gave a retreat in Montreal in October. His latest homilies include this one on Sunday December 23 ("Marie, qui prépare la venue de Jésus ..." here). In his words, Fr. Boulad said that the Holy Spirit drove Mary (already pregnant in Jesus) out of herself as she was able to travel 200 kms on foot to go help her aged cousin Elizabeth.
It is important to recall and relive Christianity based on a good understanding of its history (a slightly long post written here in March 2018).
The Lord' Prayer is an integral prayer that Christians know by heart. It is important to note that "Give us this day our daily bread" is an invitation of Christ to be in us through the reception of his body and blood in the Mystery of the Eucharist (see this essay written in August 2018 here).
Building human civilization in a world that keeps changing with technology is not an easy task, but still an important one. 
If we go back to January 2018, we find "The Axis of History" here based on works by Fr. Henri Boulad, Bishop Robert Barron, and Sir John Polkinghorne. 
With regard to cosmic physics see also my post in June 2018 on Black Holes here.
Recent scientific findings in CERN were announced a few days ago where it published an article titled "The future of particle physics in Europe is taking shape" here. This does not mean that America, Russia, or China is behind in any way. On December 28, 2018, The Washington Post published an article claiming that Russia's military intelligence using advanced computer technology is active in Europe and other parts of the world. Read it here. China's XiPing too is working to assimilate the power of the United States and Russia. MIT Technology Review published recently an  article claiming that the U.S. attempt to keep Artificial Intelligence out of China could actually help China (read it here).
As the business corporate leaders rethink implementations of digital technology, TechRepublic wrote that technologies are driving business in 2019: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, 5G and edge computing. I had written on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data as well as other information here and here.
I am reading two books that I received a couple of days ago. 
1) The 500-pages "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by Professor David Griffiths (He earned his PhD. from Harvard and taught modern physics at 5 universities including University of Massachusetts and Stanford University). It is a text book taught to university students
2) "Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology" by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI). In this voluminous book, Ratzinger show the anthropology and development of philosophical thought including the 20th century "Philosophy of History". His theological insight is decidedly "deep in the water", a reference to Christology. 
We have great hopes that in God's merciful love the new year will be a blessing to all of humanity.

Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB, PhD. : The Feast of the Holy Family

Holy Family                            30 xii 2018                    Holy Rosary

I

t has always been difficult for the homilist to preach on the feast of the Holy Family. In the old days, the priest would deliver a string of platitudes about loving mothers, provident fathers and so on. There’s a joke people used to tell about such sermons. After Mass Mrs. Smith said to Mrs. Jones, “I wish I knew as little about marriage as he does.” It’s still difficult to preach on the feast, but for a totally different reason; for how in heaven’s name do you define a family today? There are single-parent families or families with two male, or two female parents. Polygamy—one man with several or even multiple wives—is practised in Canada, and not only by the Mormons in Bountiful B.C. A woman told me that one of her co-workers announced that she was going to be married “in the Moslem way.” When asked what that meant, she replied that she would be the second wife of her husband, not legally, of course, but in accord with the Koran that allows a man to have up to four wives. And then there’s polyandry, a word that you may not know. It refers to one woman with several husbands, in what I might call “the Canadian way,” that is, with only one being legal. The Globe and Mail had a laudatory article on one such “family” a couple of weeks ago, with a photograph of the woman, her two partners and their smiling offspring. Besides these, there are other arrangements that I would not dare to describe or even mention for the pulpit. Concomitant with these developments is the growing discomfort with the terms “husband” and “wife”—now simply “partners,”—with “mother” and “father”—now “parents”—and with “son” and “daughter”—now “offspring” or “sibling.”

What in the world is the poor preacher to say on the feast of the Holy Family? . . . now that we have been educated to be so tolerant that we can no longer tolerate anyone who would question the legitimacy of these new arrangements. It’s not only a difficulty for the preacher, for you like me are members of a Church that views Tradition as valid a vehicle of revelation as Scripture itself. Simply call to mind the language of the creed that we shall shortly recite: we believe in God the Father and God the Son. Are we now to abandon those hallowed titles and in baptizing, instead of using the time-honoured phrase “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” say something like this: “I baptize you in the name of the Source, the Effect and the Union”? Furthermore, in the Bible Jesus is described as the bridegroom of his bride, the Church. Mary, too, we address with the title “Mother of God” and also as our mother. And so on. I fear that if I were merely to enunciate our traditional teaching about marriage some of you would walk out and the rest would bombard me with their hymnals. And it is shocking to modern Canadian ears as you find it in, e.g., the Catechism. Its starting point is what Saint Augustine identified as “the three goods of marriage.”[1] The first is “fidelity,” which points to the mutual love and support of one spouse for the other. Then, “children,” referring to the obligation to provide, and provide for, the next generation. And finally, he speaks of the “sacrament,” i.e., the permanence of Christian marriage in that it is a sacramental sign of Christ’s love for the Church. As he will not abandon his bride, the Church, nor she him, so husband and wife are permanently joined until death separates them.

The most offensive statement in this traditional description of marriage is: “the primary purpose of marriage is the procreation of children.” A word of caution may be in order before your indignation becomes violent. The word “primary” here is used in the sense that we find it in, e.g., primary school—i.e., the foundation upon which higher learning will be built. Thus, learning one’s ABCs is not superior to reading Shakespeare, but is an essential first step. For, if you cannot read, the great works of literature will remain for you literally a closed book. So too with procreation. It is the biological fact upon which can be raised the edifice of mutual support, a loving relationship and a mature spirituality.

The implications of Saint Augustine’s approach to marriage are wide-ranging, in that the noble titles of husband and wife, mother and father, are paradigmatic for all of society, including those of us who are unmarried. For each one of us, what ever his condition, is called upon to imitate the generous and self-sacrificing service that marriage requires from the spouses in their relationship to one another and to their children. In general, then, we can say that all the machinery of the modern state—industry, government, education, entertainment—is in place to serve the family, i.e., to encourage, to facilitate the union of man and woman in the establishment of a home. Teachers, e.g., act to supplement the education of the young that begins and continues in the home. Commerce, too, exists primarily to provide household goods that it would be too difficult or too time consuming for a family to make on its own. Similarly, government should act to safeguard the public good in passing laws and providing assistance to preserve the well-being of all its members, especially in such things as affordable housing and family assistance. In short, family life, at best, reminds us that the essential purpose of the paraphernalia of society is service rather than profit or self-aggrandizement. You can see, I am sure, that this traditional doctrine constitutes a radical critique of Canada today. But what is one to do? I may not be able directly to alter what is going on in city hall or Queen’s Park or Ottawa; I may not be able to monitor the media; I may not be able to influence the stock market; but I can reflect on my own situation and act so as to conform my behaviour to what is required of a faithful follower of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.a

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[1] “Fides, proles et sacramentum”; cf. Augustine, De bono coniugali, XXIV.32.

The Amazing Christmas Night Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration

I wish to share my joy as we participated in the Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in the mid-night or rather the very early hours of Tuesday December 25, 2018.  At the Dome of the Cathedral's Byzantine architecture,  the faithful look up Mary Mother of God and her son our Lord Jesus Christ in her lap overlooking the entire creation. The mosaic is called "Our Lady of the Wide Universe" سيدة الرحاب. In the Eastern churches the Virgin Mary is never alone in images as she is always dependent on her son the God-Man. Furthermore, the Eastern churches do not have sculptures of Jesus or saints as in the Roman Catholic churches. The Universal Church built on Christ never tires from building up a civilization of love even if sometimes it is troubled by a few lost sheep. See here a quick overview of the history of Christianity.
The entire Mass was served by the Pastor Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO; assisted by his Assistant Pastor Fr. Michel Chalhoub, and, for serving the Holy Eucharist, Fr. Youhanna Hanna, MP helped the \above-mentioned priests. In Eastern Churches, parishioners are expected to stand most of the time because when Christ rose from the dead, he raised us with Him. People genuflect but they do not kneel. See this majestic video from a church in Moscow here. Confessionals are not part of the tradition - Generally a person confesses his sins and receives absolution from the parish pastor or another priest associated with the parish (his spiritual advisor).
The renowned Homsy Choir sang the hymns for Christmas including some very beautiful ones: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ, Have put on Christ". With incense going up to the Dome as a sign of praise to the Triune-God, the Choir sings "Magnify, O my soul, the Virgin more glorious than the heavenly powers. Behold a strange and wonderful mystery: the cave is heaven, the Virgin a Cherubic throne, the manger a noble place where reposes Christ the Uncontainable God. Let us praise and magnify him!" In the second kathisma, the Choir continues thus "Mary why are you rapt in wonder? Why are you astounded in your inner self? And she answers: 'Behold: because I have given birth in time to a Son who is not bound by time. I do not even understand how I conceived: how is this possible when I knew not a man? Who ever saw a birth without human seed?' But where God wills, the laws of nature are upset. It was written: 'Christ shall be born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Juda'. (for more on the Homsy Choir hymns in the Divine Liturgy, see their hymns in the first Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 here).
After the readings from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 4: 4-7), and the Gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 2: 1-12), Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad said an impressive homily which he based on five dimensions for us to learn:
1. In Jesus birth, heaven was brought to earth; the cave contained God so abundantly loving of every person. It is the entire humanity for which Christ was born.
2. The Virgin Mary and Joseph could not find a place in the inn for Jesus to be born. He was born in a manger - It tells us how God is so humble. We learn not to be arrogant and show-off our talents - What each of us has is a gift from God...We should also forgive those who despise us as Christ forgives us.
3. Like the Wise Men (Magi), let us follow the real wisdom of God - Jesus Christ is the "Fount of Wisdom" (See St. John Damascene "Fount of Wisdom" and his great influence on the Western Church that he was called the first scholastic - Written here in the Catholic Encyclopedia). The Choir sings "Your nativity, O Christ our God, has shed the light of knowledge upon the world. Through it, those who had been star-worshipers learned through a star to worship You, O Sun of justice, and recognize in You the One who rises from on high. O Lord, Glory to You!"
St. Athanasius of Alexandria wrote that Christ took on our human nature so that we can put on His Divine Nature" (De Incarnatione Verbi Dei) - "Theosis" is the basis of the call of humanity to God through Christ which was made a reality in the incarnation of the Word of God according to the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad.
3. Bethlehem is a small town. Yet God chose the small and the little to be born in them. Let us not despise the poor and associate our selves with only the rich people on this earth. Let us welcome the poor in our homes and visit the sick and needy. Let us visit the imprisoned and help the unwanted. The Knights of Columbus at Jesus the King is a good starting point for helping others more in need.  (This is important when we consider the crime of abortion which is never justified and the crime of  helping to end someone's life in assisted-suicide of the distressed and highly-sick people. God is the author of life from conception in the womb to natural death. Health-care professionals and patients should be aware of the demands of conscience trained in God's laws.)
4. Let us help our children grow in a Church environment and in a morally-abiding family. Why our youths are not getting married? Rather than spending time watching games let us pray together as much as we can. The birth of Christ ushered the new civilization of love - Build your family on His love.
On some of the above notes see my lectures : Is abortion justified in case of rape? here and Why Our Youths Are Not Getting Married Today here.
Probably the best homily I have ever heard about Christmas comes from the mouth of the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad here:
"The scandal of the Incarnation, which means that we cannot believe that God could debase himself , becomes the key and the supreme proof  that this is the truth"


"But a God in heaven well served who looks to me and says 'You suffer. Have courage. Perhaps one day you will be with me in my heaven' is not God. A God who says 'Patience. I am fine here but you over there can suffer' is not God. This is the false God that we, often, figure that he sends us prophets from time to time to console us' . NO, NO. NO. This God who looks to me with a telescope is not my God. I do not want him."

"If there is a phenomenon of atheism today in the West as well as in Egypt, it is precisely because men say we are in fact better than God. The walk that I walk to help when I see a hungry person or a thirsty one or a person without faith, can't God do it? Has he no choice regarding his honor?"

"No. He did it. This is the supreme proof of the Christian Mystery. Do not look somewhere else. 'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' He descended. No more seventh heaven..."

"The only God I can believe, love and worship is the God Jesus Christ because he descended to me."

"'Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down...' "

And the great preacher and Jesuit scholar Henri Boulad finished here his homily.

At Christmas, the surprise disclosed by heaven continues - See "Surprised!" here

It is on this occasion that I thank God for all the care that He has given me through great physicians, my parents, my spouse and her parents , my brothers and their families, and many caring relatives and friends. I wrote a little post here last April about God's love for me that extended my life. 

In closing let us listen to a Christmas hymn received from a very close brother - Here it is.

The Coming of Christ

Video of the visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WLF3cwXfGc

In his homily yesterday Sunday December 23, 2018, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad said how the Virgin Mary was driven by the power of the Holy Spirit to travel 200 km on foot in order to help her aged cousin Elizabeth in her pregnancy (homily here in French: Marie, qui prépare la venue de Jésus )...In his words, Fr. Boulad recalls that Mary is that unique person called to testify to God in her womb and lead the way of the coming of Christ into the world - She is also venerated as the most  pure woman in Islam's Qur'an. She is, therefore, truly mother of many who venerate her above all God's creation. When the Spirit of God fills a person, the person no longer remains himself or herself but goes out of the self (ecstase)! The child looks up in amazement to his mother going out of the womb - This is what the Messiah did - Jesus went out of himself to call everyone to his Father's womb...It reminded me by what Fr. Georges Farah explained how Plato's cave represented darkness where everyone inside cannot see until one of them goes out to the light. Is it not possible that the first homo sapiens lived in the darkness of Africa before going out to places where there is more water and plants namely the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea? The reader may wish to read my post "What sets humans apart from others" (here). Or better yet read my lecture "The Development of the Idea of God" (here). In this lecture I showed the gradual development of the idea of God from tens of thousand of years of pantheism in ancient civilizations to the Abrahamic monotheism that sprang in Ur and made its way in the Revelation of God to Abraham into Palestine, later known as Judea and Sameria, which the early Christians, inspired by the Spirit of God, devotedly preached first in Jerusalem then transmitted it to the entire known world. They went out of themselves, preached Christ's life and words, and paid the ultimate sacrifice for their testimony. Was it not God who appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb (taken from Exodus 3)? ["And Moses said, "I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here am I." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.]Yesterday too Bishop Robert Barron commented on the Gospel reading (Luke 1: 39-45). He made an eloquent comparison between Mary the Mother of Christ and the "Woman" in chapter 11 in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 11) - Mary is the true Ark of Covenant in which the remnant of the Ten Commandments were kept -  She bore in her womb the Word made flesh and the very presence of God - When

Tonight the Melkite Catholic Church in  Toronto will celebrate Christmas Eve Mass (called: Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Tradition) at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration starting at 11 pm. The celebrants, appreciated by all, are Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad, BSO; Fr. Michel Chalhoub; and Fr. Youhanna Hanna, MR. We plan to attend the Divine Liturgy and share in the hymns sung by the renowned Homsy Choir (listen to some hymns at the first Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral on Sunday November 27, 2016 here). 

I recorded, to the best of my knowledge, two particularly very precious homilies about the unique role of the Virgin Mary: One by Fr. Georges Farah, PhD on the Blessed Virgin Mary with commentary by the well-known Biblical scholar Msgr. Robert Nusca, PhD here and the other is by Thomas Cardinal Collins the Archbishop of Toronto here.

But I wish to continue the reflection on the Book of Revelation. 

Can we read the beginning of the end in today's events? We know that, according to modern Biblical scholarship, the book of Revelation was written in the late 90s, as Apocalyptic literature to warn Christians and give them hope in the persecutions of the 1st century. Having said that, let's look afresh at Revelation and see whether there can be any interpretation for our world today as well. Sometimes the same text can reflect a myth and a literal event too. Can this be the case here? The New American Bible Revised Edition (approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) in the introduction to the Book of Revelation says "The Book of Revelation had its origin in a time of crisis, but it remains valid and meaningful for Christians of all time. In the face of apparently insuperable evil, either from within or from without, all Christians are called to trust in Jesus' promise, 'Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20)"

Revelation is a complex book, so I intend only to show similarities from the Book to what we are seeing today. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there are 5 important symbolic figures: The Lamb, the woman, and her seed; and opposed to them, the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the land.

Scholars dig deep into the Old Testament: The main idea is taken from Genesis 3:15. "I will put enmities between you (the serpent) and the woman, and your seed and her seed". The woman is arrayed in heavenly splendour; a crown of twelve stars on her head and the sun and the moon under her feet (cf. Genesis 37:9-10). She is in travail. Her first-born is destined to rule all the nation (Psalms 2:8, 9). She herself, and her other seed, are persecuted for three and a half years by the great dragon who tries to kill them. The great dragon is Satan (Genesis 3:1). He is cast out of heaven. With his tail he drags after him one-third of the stars. Taken from Daniel 8:10. The fallen stars are the fallen angels. The beast from the sea is in great part taken from Daniel's description of the four beasts (Daniel 7). It arises from the sea; has seven heads marked all over with blasphemies (probably a reference to Rome - City of the Seven Hills, called also Babylon or the Harlot in the New Testament since at the time it was the center of evil and idolatry for Christians). It had also ten horns, like the fourth beast of Daniel; it resembled a leopard, the third beast of Daniel, it had feet like a bear, the second beast of Daniel; and teeth like a lion, the first beast of Daniel. The great dragon gives full power to the beast, where all the world will worship it. The followers of the beast have its mark on their head and hand. The beast from the land has two horns like a ram. Its power lies in its art of deceiving by means of tokens and miracles. Throughout the remainder of the book it is called the false prophet. Its office is to assist the beast from the sea, and to induce people to adore its image.

The first act of the drama concludes with a promise of victory over the beast by the Lamb of God. We can safely see in the woman Mary immaculate whose seed is Jesus the Lamb of God. Other interpretations think of it as a symbol of the Church in her suffering and ultimate glory. The drama completes when the "New Jerusalem" is founded. She will need no light because the Father and the Lamb will be her light - the light of the Holy Spirit. A great number of people; thousands over thousands will be in the triumphant city. Meanwhile let's attempt to follow the visionary.

We can see in the Dragon the Devil. But who are the Beast and the False Prophet? The New Jerome Biblical Commentary in 1990 gives a contemporary interpretation pointing out that the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth have both mythic and historical references. Sea in the Old Testament is an opponent of God (Cf. Ps. 74:13). In Revelation, the beast from the sea is a mythical symbol of chaos and rebellion. The beast from the earth (13:11-18) is also a counter image to the Lamb. The beast from the earth is described as a false prophet, probably an agent of the Roman empire who promoted the cult of the emperor and the goddess Roma.

The following is my own interpretation based on my readings, but mostly based on what we are seeing today. I think, and I stand to be corrected, that the False Prophet is Radical Islam and the Beast is the materialist postmodern world of the West. We can consult the "Clash of Civilizations" that Samuel Huntington wrote in the 1990s, although this is not necessary.

The False Prophet: From a historic perspective, I do note that the human race was warned in 1917 by Our Lady at Fatima and that the "Third Secret of Fatima" was officially interpreted as the assassination attempt on the life of Saint Pope John Paul the Great. But may be that attempt was only the first of calamities that humanity will have to suffer as the sons and daughters of Abraham, Jews and Muslims, fight to death. Recall also that for 60 years now, Israel is back as one Jewish nation, and since 1967 it has reoccupied Jerusalem thus fulfilling the prophecy of the end of time attributed to Christ "and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21: 24). Furthermore, we can go back to the early 1930s and find the established "Muslim Brotherhood" which claims support from Muslims worldwide. But two centuries earlier Mohammed Ibn Abdel-Wahhab had preached a puritan form of Islam that forbids devotional customs such as shrines for saints and visitation of tombs. He and his followers made a pact with Mohammed bin Saud whose successors prevailed in Arabia and were given the land by the British after World War I.  Today Saudi Arabia, a rich Arab Sunni Muslim country, exports the Wahabbi/Salafist thought (with oil from its oil reserves) to other countries in the world and has its own agenda as a regional power. In addition since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been tirelessly exporting its strict Shiite doctrine to the entire Islamic world. In 1972, President Sadat released Muslim extremists from jail and was subsequently assassinated by one of their groups in 1981. By 1982, the motto "Islam is the Solution" had appeared in Egypt. It is no accident that the revival of fundamentalist Islam has spread in all the Arab world and the Muslim nations in spite of persecution by governments loyal to the West. From Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Recent migrations from North African Islamists contributed to an increase in Radical Islam in Western Europe. Billions of dollars are spent by Saudi Arabia's Royal family and Qatar's Emirate to finance Islamic education in the West. 
  
This is only a general picture. Now, I would like to give some details: Although many people are driven to think that this is a Western propaganda and political conflict, I believe that the Vatican would not have protested repeatedly in recent years against persecution and killing of Christians in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt unless there was ground for such violation of human freedom and dignity.  Fundamentalist Islam today, spreading in Europe at a huge rate of 230%, is one of the major forces that Western Europe had to deal with since 9/11 and is still unable to contain. The late Libyan leader Qaddafi was quoted to have said in 2007 that by 2050 Europe will be completely Muslim. Huge money is spent on building mosques and Islamic schools and supporting Muslim organizations in the entire world. Financing is coming from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar and Libya. Add to this the violent character of such organizations as Hamas, governing Gaza in Palestine and until now refusing to recognize the right of Israel to exist, and Hizbullah which has a majority support in Lebanon since its victory over Israel in 2006. Iran, another regional power hopeful and opposed to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, is attempting to build its nuclear power and its leaders have vowed to extinguish Israel. Is this enough for describing a false prophet?

The Beast: This is the great desolation of Western civilization. If I have to explain it in detail it will take me a full week. Just briefly: It started with the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther thought that every individual Christian is free to interpret Scriptures according to what he feels the Holy Spirit is telling him. This idea created "individualism." Individualism is rampant today, thanks to other modern philosophers such as the existentialist Sartre. Only me counts. "The other is my hell." It is interesting to note how this has been applied successfully in contemporary thought and technology too. Nothing is done in a vacuum. One thing you must understand is that we are all related in this cosmos. Following Luther in interpreting St.Paul, Calvin thought that God predestined people as he willed to heaven or hell so if they were destined to heaven they will also be blessed here on earth. John Courtney Murray, S.J. who was the main contributor to Vatican II's "Declaration on Freedom of Religion" wrote how Calvinism re-emerged in North-America. Calvinism was brought by the early Europeans to America.  Soon enough the idea of individualism combined with the idea of blessedness on earth and produced the idea of Capitalism long before Adam Smith thought of it in economic terms. In simple terms, if I am blessed here as a Christian, I would rather use all the resources available to me to realize this blessing on earth as much and as wide as possible. This is greed in the form of Capitalism. Sure I will help the needy but I will also help myself much more from what they have. The earth is mine and I will explore its richness to the end! Today, Capitalism rules the earth. Free market enslaves people. Recall the political and economic pressure by the IMF on the underdeveloped countries to free their economy in the 1980s and 1990s. What is the global crisis but the result of that greed globally? Why is the globe in economic recession today but because of the powerful wanting more power and meanwhile robbing the nations of Africa and Asia from their resources? It is part of the nationalist movements' claims in the underdeveloped world. The entire U.N. charter is only ink on paper...Along with Capitalism a twin ideology was born: materialism.

Since the Enlightenment in the 19th century West, philosophers and scientists have been asking whether there is indeed any reality beyond matter. Some great materialist/atheist philosophers include Hume, Voltaire, Marx, Carnap, Wittgenstein, Derrida, Michel Foucault and many others. The "New Atheists" of today such as Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss are scientists who devote much time attacking religion because they constrain their research to what is observable in the cosmos. In schools today, our children learn mostly what constitutes physics but very little, if any, about metaphysics (i.e. beyond physics).

Today we see how our consumerist society has invested in this ideology. Businesses flourish based on selling products to consumers. The more we consume the more business flourishes. This is the child of materialism married to capitalism. With globalization in the 1980s-1990s and beyond, large businesses and huge investors were able to reach the entire globe. Europe and the Far East imitated America and did the same. Who paid the price? Small business, and ordinary people like you and me. Materialism also bore the ideology of Communism which was carried out in Russia and persecuted religion from 1917 to 1989 in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Today Communism still lives in political pockets in Europe and is widely known under a more moderate name as socialism. Communism robbed people of their rights to private property. People became enslaved to the government of their land. It engulfed a whole generation of thinkers, even within the Church particularly in Latin America where people remain quite poor. Capitalist America supported dictatorial regimes in Latin America in order to suppress these movements.

Another twist of the moral order took place in the two World Wars. Because many men were sent to the battlefield women were forced to work in order to support their families. The radical feminist ideology was born  in the early 1920s and grew quickly in the 1940s and 1950s. Women started building their own career like men. Equality with men, not in dignity as known in traditional Christianity, but in all aspects of roles in business as well as at home was furiously demanded. This started the collapse of the family as we know it. Today we know many men and women who are, contrary to the moral Law, legally divorced. The feminist movement also produced legalization of abortion as the right of woman according to the land's law has a priority over the existence of the fetus in her womb. The Western civilization lost millions of unborn babies in this genocide. By the 1960s the sexual revolution was in the making, this time freeing people from the sex complex as defined by Freud. Soon afterwards, it became common that young people practice their intimate sexual "love" in the public with no shame. Today we know of couples who live together a life of sexual promiscuity and adultery without marriage or within marriage by prior agreement.

The last evil came under the influence of the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (died 1900). The ideology is known as Moral Relativism: Nietzsche sees the slave-morality as a social illness that has overtaken Europe — a derivative and resentful value which can only work by condemning others as evil. In Nietzsche's eyes, Christianity exists in a hypocritical state wherein people preach love and kindness but find their joy in condemning and punishing others for pursuing those ends which the slave-morality does not allow them to act upon publicly. Nietzsche calls for the strong in the world to break their self-imposed chains and assert their own power, health, and vitality upon the world. In Relativism (called also Postmodernism), everyone is right. There is no absolute right and absolute wrong. This helps political correctness in the pluralistic world of today.

In my humble opinion, we need to pay attention to the present, learn lessons from the past, and pray for the future. We seem to have lost our way between the False Prophet (Radical Islam) and the Beast (Western Civilization).

There is a tremendous thirst in the young generations for spiritual nourishment that gives meaning to their lives. Let us focus on those ones for their deprivation of spiritual nourishment leads them to emptiness and depression which in turn cause suicide or worse they could join the extremist Jihadists (as we already see in Europe and North America) and we end up having a crazy army of terrorists killing themselves and us in the name of God as prophesied "children will rise against parents and ave them put to death"(Matthew 10:21). Churches are "not museums" according to Pope Saint  John XXIII. They must be the light for nourishment of Christians, notably the young and (almost) lost generations, in everything that they need to learn to live spiritually and survive materially i.e. to develop their knowledge and love of God and of others.Virtual websites for Church activities and online social networking need to be developed for those who are far.

The world needs a lot of prayer and intelligent collaboration in good faith to avoid a clash of civilizations and a third World War, something that Pope Francis warned about. Christians need to respect and love their fellow Muslims who worship the same God - The crimes of extremists cannot be counted against the vast majority of Muslims. We hope that the warnings of Fatima will be avoided. Mary is the mother of both Christians and Muslims, and as Bishop Fulton sheen said, Mary will bring them all to her Son.

But more prayers are needed to save the civilization of the West from destroying itself internally. This is the harder one. We believe in what the Saviour said 'Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Matthew 28:20).
In closing you may wish to see this clip of a Christmas hymn received from a close brother:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnk04X6ZR1w&feature=youtu.be