In the Sacred Scriptures (Holy Bible), there are many prophecies about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Second Coming, which is the Judgment Day. But there’s also a prophecy that the faithful must be aware of especially in this generation – the coming of the Antichrist.
The Antichrist is a person who opposed Jesus Christ and who will reign before the His Second Coming. The word Antichrist was first mentioned from the letters of St. John. He also mentioned that there will be many Antichrists before the last one, who will appear and reign before the Judgement Day. According to St. Paul the Apostle, he will be called “The Man of Sins” and “Man of Perdition” who think himself as a god. While in the Book of Revelation, he is the beast who has the number of 666.
No one knows when the Antichrist will appear or reveal himself to the world, only God knows it. According to St. Paul the Apostle, before he arrives, there will be a “Great Apostasy”. Some Saints and Catholic Scholars said that he will appear during a massive war in the world and make himself known as a man of peace.
According to the Prophet Daniel from the Old Testament, the Antichrist will reign in three and a half years in the world, similar to the years of ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. During his reign, he will give terror to the church and make a great persecution to the faithful that no one has ever seen. He will remove the sacrifice and offering which he will prohibit the celebration of the Holy Mass. The church and the faithful will celebrate it in secret.
Some Catholic Scholars stated that the Antichrist, as a man of peace will deceive the government leaders where they will give him power over politics and economics. With this power, he will build a false religion, false worship and in the end, he will ask the people to worship him.
Saints such as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, St. John Damascene and St. Bridget of Sweden said that the Antichrist is full of all wickedness, he will perform false miracles (because it is not from God), seduce those who are dead in soul, persecute the Catholic Church and injustice will overflow.
The Antichrist will do everything in his power to seduce and deceive us. His power will come from the devil himself, the father of lies. We, as human and sinners can be easily deceive by lies including those who are lack in faith and who loves sin. For example, in an political election, we know who are the corrupt and liars, but we are still easily deceived by their sweet words of promises or because someone told us to vote for them. Just like what happened in the passion of our Lord, where the people choose the sinful man Barabbas who did not even campaign for himself than the sinless man, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because he is against God, against our Lord Jesus Christ and will do anything to stop us loving and worship God. It is said that the devil wants to become a God, so he will also imitate what God did. God is a father and the Devil will become the father of the Antichrist. God is also our Lord Jesus Christ, so the Devil is also the Antichrist. God is the Holy Spirit, so the Devil is the serpent.
Now we have the knowledge of the Antichrist and what he is about to do before the second coming of our Lord. We must strengthen our faith to God, worship him everyday, go to mass and take the Sacrament of the Eucharist frequently. Take the sacrament of penance, confess and try not to sin again. We must also receive the Sacrament of Confirmation so that the Anti-Christ will not be able to deceive us. We must also train our children to strengthen their faith, know their faith and know the incoming enemy. Hopefully that when they grow up, they can also teach the next generation. Because we don’t know when Antichrist will come. According to Sister Lucia of Fatima, she was told by the Blessed Virgin Mary that God gives two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As the Blessed Virgin Mary told the children in Fatima “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph”.
