I know I'm being coy, but people who think that these prophets are, indeed, prophetic, base their presumption on scripture, namely, the book of Genesis. The idea is that since God smote Sodom and Gomorra and washed the earth of Noah's peers, he can and will do it again. In fact, to not kill us off, or, at the very least, to not make us suffer in a really bad way, is akin to "sparing the rod and spoiling the child." You probably know scripture better than I, but I seem to remember God saying something about not ever doing that again. You also probably know the teachings of the Catholic Church better than I do, but I certainly remember something about Christ dying for my sins so that I wouldn't have to. But maybe I don't fully understand this and I simplify this issue of salvation and benevolence. I mean, what ever happened to the book of Wisdom (Wis. 1:13)?? If you've got a better reply to this notion that God has no qualms about a second flood, then please, I am all ears.
Don't get me wrong, natural disasters happen and people die. But these events are intricately connected with our sins in the generic sense that all of creation fell at The Fall, and, as a sinful people, we continue to abuse the world--and our economy and our unborn children--in such a way that has disastrous effects. This is different, however, from saying that since God allows this to happen, he wants it to happen. On the contrary, he gave us free will, and such calamities are the consequences of our free choices. To remove such consequences from our actions is to remove responsibility and accountability from our free will, and effectively, remove our free will along with them. Whereas to allow such consequences is to be an Affectionate Father, because to allow them is to preserve our freedom and dignity as human persons. This is very different from the Father that these so-called prophets been painting.
In fact, what does Pope Benedict XV say? I am glad you asked. You can read his short address here, but the gist is that, and I quote, "no one can know the moment of the Lord's return" and we should be "on guard against all alarmism, as if the Lord's return were imminent." What this implies is that if anybody, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, claims that Christ is coming next week and we should "be afraid, be very afraid," don't buy into it. Sure, we have been in the "end times" since the Ascension of Christ, and we ought to be alert and ready for his return, but we need to do this because we don't know when he will come back--and if he is a dude who lives up to his promises, he will come back. So, live every day as if it were our last--Carpe Diem! In fact, Advent is a call for us to cleanse the manger of our hearts of all debris, and prepare a throne for the expected King. We don't do this because we "ought to be afraid," but because we ought to love the one who adores us, unconditionally. To quote Pope Benedict one more time:
the early Church, instead of becoming distracted by alarmism, "understood more and more that the 'nearness' of God is not a question of space and time, but rather a question of love: Love is near! Christmas will come," he concluded, "to remind us of this fundamental truth of our faith and, before the crèche, taste Christian joy, contemplating in the face of the newborn Jesus the God who drew near to us for love."
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