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Our Decisive Times – The Church Vs. the Anti- Church –Part I Father Jordi Rivero, Aug. 12, 2021 We are living in decisive times A person’s time on earth has always been decisive because it determines our fate for eternity. But our times are decisive in a particular way: It will not be possible to remain as Christians simply based on family tradition. We have entered a new stage of the spiritual battle, a new world order with an aggressive anti-Christian ideology. As we are pressured to accept immoral practices, each person will have to make a decision: Christ or the world.  We will be tempted to capitulate and justify it, saying: “I had to do it, or I would be fined,” or “I would lose my job”… Let us not fool ourselves. We make a choice. There is no discipleship of Christ without the Cross.  Christians have come to this crossroads since the beginning. When Jesus was taken prisoner, Peter followed Him at a distance. His love was still imperfect, and he could not overcome his fear.[1] Another crossroad was when Henry VIII of England declared himself the head of the Church. Only one bishop in all of England, St. John Fisher[2], remained faithful. He was martyred. The acquiescence of the other bishops sealed a division in the Body of Christ that remains today. Yet, a remnant of faithful priests and laypersons held to the faith, and many were martyred in the ensuing years.  History gives us a vital lesson: Few remain at the Cross. Will we? Only if our love, like Peter’s, is perfected through suffering. It is for these decisive times that the Lord has been forming us in Love Crucified. We need to live our identity and mission and deepen our response every day.  What are we facing?  Cardinal Karol Wojtyla visited the USA in 1976, two years before being elected pope. His words were like a lightning bolt amidst the festive spirit of the Eucharistic Congress. He said: We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it… How many times has the renewal of the Church been brought about in blood! It will not be different this time[3]. Cardinal Wojtyla had personal experience of the horrific suffering caused by the Nazis and Communists and the subsequent enslavement of many countries. He was not speaking lightly when he told us that we are facing “the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through,” that it is now “inevitable” and will be “brought about in blood.”   The confrontation is between the Church and the anti-Church.  The battle lines are drawn. We are either the Church or the anti-Church. Now the Church appears weak and infiltrated by the anti-Church, but it will be purified by fire. We must remain humbly united with Mary in obedience at the foot of the Cross. One with Him in suffering. Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) wrote: “The church will become small… The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals...[4]” The Book of Revelation portrays this battle as the confrontation between the Church and the evil demands of the pagan state. The state is under the power of the “Red Dragon” (Rev 12) and functions as a godless anti-Church. This secular religion, formed by the enemies of God, worships the emperor and persecutes the Woman (The Church, Mary). The same Scriptures warn us that the Anti-Church appears to be invincible and multitudes bow...