Zombies and the End of the world?

Zombies and the End of the world?
(words highlighted purple or blue are links. Click to see more information)

This Sunday and next are the last two Sundays of the Catholic year. Typically the readings are about the "end of times." I was preparing for my class on Sunday when I googled "End of Times" and some sites popped up with comments highlighted, "There's Zombies in the Bible!"I cracked up laughing. Yes there is mention that the dead will rise, for example, today's old testament reading was from Daniel 12:1-3.

1“At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since the nation began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.

2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; Some to everlasting life,

others to reproach and everlasting disgrace.

3 But those with insight shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, And those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.”

The New Testament Gospel was Jesus telling about the end of times in Mark 13: 24-32. 

24 “But in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

26 And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, 27 and then he will send out the angels and gather [his] elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

28 “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates.

30 Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

32 “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

This is a link from the old to the new, Daniel sees a vision of the End of Times with the angel Gabriel helping interpret for him. The Angels come, the nations war, the dead rise, and the ones who's names are in "the book" are saved. 

 Jesus warns his disciples of the signs to watch for the great tribulation, the stars will fall, the Angels will come, the "Son of Man" will come in the clouds, and we should be prepared for it to happen at  anytime, “But of that day or hour, no one knows,".

Scary, huh?

These readings along with the ones in Luke, Matthew and Revelations among others have fascinated our imaginations for centuries. Every age has had people that try to predict the "End of the World".

In my lifetime alone, I can remember at least a dozen different dates for the "end."

 Now it's the Mayan Calender that ends abruptly on December 21, 2012. Good Lord, what are people thinking? Did anyone think that maybe the calendar ended because the Mayans were killed off? 

Television is full of Post Apocalyptic shows, everything from Aliens attacking, to Zombies. Movies have been made with huge meteors crashing into the earth, the ice caps melting and starting a new ice age, and of course the 2012 Mayan thing has inspired several films. 

And let's not forget those silly people that have watched "The Terminator" one time too many, and they are building bunkers underground and storing food and weapons. There's even a food manufacturing company that has jumped on that bandwagon and is making a mint selling pre-packaged food in five gallon buckets! People, people, people, is there no faith left in this world?

Recently, I was listening to Matthew Kelly's new talk on CD from Lighthouse. In it he mentions the largest industry in this country(or was it the world?) and that is Insurance. People worry about everything. We worry about sickness, dying, losing our property, being sued, and much more. We need not worry about the end of the world. If we are Christian and understand the teachings in the bible, we will not be here for the tribulations because we will be taken up to Heaven in the blink of an eye. 

In Father's Homily today, he told us we shouldn't worry about something we can't do anything about anyway. The end will come when it comes, so don't worry about it. I agree with Father.

I also know a little more today than I did a few years ago, and that Mark 13 and Matthew 24, Jesus is not talking solely about the end of the world, but the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. 

To the Jews of that day, they understood the words He spoke. They knew the Temple represented the world. When it was built, it was made to look like the world. The curtains were blue and purple, like the morning and evening sky. The huge pool for ritual washing, was representative of the oceans and waters of the earth. The veil of the Temple, hanging high from the ceiling, had the stars of the night painted on it. Thus, when the Temple was destroyed, the stars will be falling from the sky, as the veil comes down amid the flames.

A hint of this is when Jesus says, Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. About 40 years after Jesus was crucified, around the year 70, the Temple was destroyed by the Romans. In Matthew 24:1-2 Jesus points to the great stones on the Temple walls and says, "Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” When the Temple was destroyed and burned, Titus ordered the remaining structures torn down. The destroyers tried to find the gold that had been in the Temple, overlaid on the doors, lamps, tables, etc., and they searched and pulled down the stones trying to find the gold which was gone, it had evaporated in the fire. Maybe they got lucky and found some melted, but probably not since a fire the size of that one would have raged for days and the NYFD was not there to put it out. Josephus the Jewish Historian reports that 1,100,000 people were killed in the siege. The gardens were laid waste and trees were cut down, making it a wasteland.

This event was preceded by the "abomination" that was placed in the Temple by the Romans, to be worshiped as a god of Rome. The Romans loved their gods and Titus who was the Emperor's son had hoped to convert the Temple for their own use.

When this happened, the Christians high tailed it out of Jerusalem and took refuge on Mount Pella according to Eusebius' writings. (Remember the last post I said I was reading The History of the Church by Eusebius?)  Eusebius relates the stories of the great famine that had come while the Apostles were still teaching, Luke mentions it in Acts 11:27-30 as the prediction of Agabus and that a collection was taken and sent to help by way of Paul and Barnabus. 

The Book of Revelations again relates the destruction of the Temple and the second coming but mostly it is about the Heavenly Liturgy. You can learn more by reading and listening to talks by theologians that have spent years studying, one is Dr. Michael Barber, his talk on the Lighthouse Catholic Media CD, Unlocking the Book of Revelations, is a great place to start. 

The main thing to remember here, is not to worry about the end of the world. There won't be Zombies walking around chewing your arm off. We faithful Christians will be long gone before that happens! Seriously, NO ZOMBIES! 

Blessings, 

The Catholic Lady