ONE MORNING while I was driving, I heard some news on the radio: «According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is the worst and deadliest epidemic in the history of humanity.» The words of Jesus immediately resonated in my mind:» For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows» (Matthew 24:7, 8). We talked in past days about wars («for nation will rise against nation»), and today I want to talk about plagues, or epidemics.
Let us begin with the most common definition of «epidemic»: it is a disease that affects an increasing number of people during a certain period of time, previously known as «plagues,» we remember several epidemics that had a historic impact, beginning with those of Moses described in Exodus; followed by the black death in the fourteenth century, which took the lives of one third of the European population; the bubonic plague in France in the eighteenth century; or cholera in the middle of the twentieth century. They seem to be a thing of the past, but they are not, and from what we know, will reappear before the end. Jesus warned us about it, not so that we would be anxious and worried, but so that we would not be deceived (see Matthew 24:4). The main reason we have to be paying attention to certain things that take place in the world—like plagues, wars, famines, or earthquakes—is to avoid being deceived. Jesus said this on several occasions.
The climate of anxiety, confusion, and fear that is generated when every type of conflict and disease abounds in the world is an ideal breeding ground for the people who want to pass themselves off as saviors and thus turn us away from a living faith in Christ Jesus. That is why Jesus was making sure to speak to us clearly and in a way that we would understand about the signs that will take place before the end. Thank You for that, Lord.
Numerous false prophets have risen up throughout past and recent history, so this does not have to be a stumbling block for us. We must bear the various difficulties and temptations that will come upon suddenly, because «he who endures to the end shall be saved» (Matthew 24:13). Amen.
«For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows» (Matthew 24:7, 8).
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Take From: Daily Devotions for Women’s 2020
«One Day at a Time»
From: Patricia Muñoz Bertozzi
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Magda Sanz T
