“Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.”

In the last lesson we learned what Advent is and the time of waiting. For us Christians today, Christ has already come, died, rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and will return one day. We are “waiting in joyful hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1] However, this impending coming of Jesus has created various thoughts and much confusion, some that have lead to whole other religions (i.e. Seventh Day Adventist)
 
You may have seen it before, but there is a bumper sticker that says, “In case of Rapture car will be vacant”. Also a few years back, there was a very popular book series titled Left Behind. In the series it followed the Protestant popular belief of the “rapture”. There have been many questions from both Catholics and other Christian believers about the second coming and the rapture even before the book series, but since the books have sold millions of copies it has spurred much discussion about this topic.
 
What does “Rapture” mean? Rapture means, “A form of ecstasy, one that is sudden and violent. This violent motion cannot, as a rule be resisted, whereas in the case of simple ecstasy, resistance is possible, at least at the outset." [2] The word “rapture” comes from the Latin rapio, meaning “to catch up” or “take away”.
 
What’s the Catholic’s position on “The Rapture”? The Catechism teaches before the Second Coming there will be an event that will “shake the faith of many believers” [3] This is in line with what Christ taught in the Gospel today when he said to “Stay alert!” From this point, there will be deception among believers offering those with the solution. This will be lead by the “anti-Christ”. At this section of the Catechism in paragraph 676, it condemns views of “millenarianism” many of which contain the rapture theory.
 
As Catholics, we believe at Christ’s second coming, all those that have died in God’s grace will rise from the dead in their glorified bodies, and those who are alive will be caught together to Christ. There will be a final judgment made by Jesus by revealing first the secrets of our hearts to all, and second, he will render judgment to each of us according to our works and acceptance (or refusal) of grace. [4] As Catholics we do not use the term “Rapture” as a second event because it will occur when Christ comes again at the end of time.
 
Why will God hold a universal public Judgment? Although we have an initial immediate judgment [5] that is one on one with Christ, God has made the final judgment [6] public for many reasons:

1.God shows all how just He is, and to show how the body, which was used for sin or for virtue will be punished or rewarded.

2. The lowly, the oppressed poor, those that were given injustice, and those that were the least before will be given proper justice in front of everyone while the ones who have abused those people will be put to shame in front of all.

3. All the graces and means of salvation that was given to each of us may be made known.

4. To show the world the divine providence of God. He will show how his acts even when allowing evil and wicked to prosper, were in accordance with his greatest wisdom.

5. The wicked shall learn the goodness of God, not so they can benefit, but for their sorrow, and show how He (God) rewards even the smallest work for His love and honor.

6. To show all, especially the wicked, that Christ is to be exalted and his words were of truth and fully manifested. [7]

At the universal public judgment, there are no secrets; the Church is reminded of this after evening prayer II during Night Prayer each Sunday night.  “They shall see the Lord face to face and bear his name on their foreheads.  The night shall be no more.  They will need no light from lamps or the sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever.” [8]
 
What is the Non-Catholic view on “The Rapture”?
 
First, it is important to note here that the majority of the Christians, including the Protestant reformers, to this day believe in the Catholic view of the Second Coming.  However, fictional books and movements that happened back in the mid 1800’s have duped many people (including Catholics) to believe in this theory. This understanding of the rapture started in the 19th century in England, by Darby of the Plymoth Brethren and then spread to America where groups of Protestants were so fixated on the second coming of Christ that they began trying to predict the final coming of Christ. This lead to the birth of the “Adventists”. The Adventists began interpreting the Bible to fit their beliefs on the rapture. [9]
 
The Fundamentalist view of the Rapture is that before Christ comes at the end of time, Jesus will take those who believe in Him from this earth to be spared from the great tribulation. They see this in 1 Thess 4:15-17 where St. Paul speaks of those that are still living caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord there. From this point there will be great tribulation, and right before the end of the world (Armageddon) Jesus will come again with all those that were caught up and those already in Heaven and reign for a millennium, then comes a new heaven and a new earth. This idea of Christ reigning on earth for a millennium is where the term “millenarianism” comes from. There are some slight differences among those who believe in this theory; for example, some disagree on if the great tribulation would take place before, during, or after the rapture, but all believed these events would happen at some point. [10] Some also disagree on whether the rapture is a separate event from the second coming.
 
Scripture does not support the idea of a thousand year rule before final judgment. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus clearly says that when the Son of Man comes again he will sit on his glorious throne, all will be gathered, and he will separate the sheep from the goats (saints from sinners) where the goats will be sent to eternal punishment. [11]
 
In today’s Gospel it spoke of people being taken, and others being left. Doesn’t that prove the rapture? Many people that believe in the Rapture theory point to today’s Gospel reading, and claim that those being “taken” is interpreted as the rapture. However, nothing in these passages speaks of Jesus secretly coming to come and get them. The context and meaning behind today’s Gospel is clear: “Jesus is using these examples to emphasize the suddenness and unexpectedness of His return.” [12] When you read further Jesus uses the analogy of a thief striking at a home. It is sudden and unnoticed. The thief doesn’t give notice to the owner of the home, and the thief “takes” what he wants. Jesus will come “at an hour you do not expect”, but he isn’t coming secretly to scoop up people before he returns for everyone. Just like the great flood in Noah’s time was real, immediate, and not hidden, so shall the second coming of Christ. In the Gospel Jesus says that they were “out in the field” and “grinding at the mill”.  The people in the Gospel were doing simple daily tasks; we are called to be faithful to Christ, especially by offering our simple daily tasks for the honor and glory of God.  What are some of our simple daily tasks?  Often in our world we “hate” the simple daily tasks and have a “live for the weekend” type mentality.  Why should we learn to value and “love” our simple daily tasks?
 
What is St. Paul trying to say in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 then? This is yet another perfect example of Protestants misinterpreting the Bible. Moreover, many of take just this quote, use it for their argument, but fail to look at the whole passage in the context of St. Paul’s writings.
 
St. Paul was writing this to the Thessalonians because they were afraid that Christians who died before the Second Coming of Christ would not be raised from the dead. Paul eases their worries by telling them that the dead shall rise first, [13] and then we shall be brought together in Christ. The other thing to note here is that Christ’s return will be accompanied by the sound of loud trumpets, and the archangels will call out. This shows that when Christ comes again it will not be a secret or quiet affair.
 
Jesus’ Third Coming? The biggest problem with the Rapture theory is that there is no Biblical, historical, or doctrinal proof to support it. Again, it wasn’t until the 19th century that this theory became known.
 
If we think about this logically and reasonably we see that this goes against the Christian faith. The Christian faith teaches that Jesus will come again, and that will be it. In the theory of the Rapture, Jesus comes and gathers up those that believe, and then comes again a final time. If we are counting that equals three times. Nowhere in scripture does Jesus say he will come three times. Christ, numerous times, stated he was to come again once and for all, in judgment, to create the new heaven and the new earth. When we proclaim at Mass the Mystery of our Faith we do not say, “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again and Christ will come again.”  We do not say he will come twice but once and once and for all.
 
What’s the problem with believing in the rapture theory? Though this theory may seem harmless, the belief and practice of The Rapture theory is dangerous because it contradicts Catholic doctrine in two ways:

1. The rapture creates a disparity between the Church militant (those on earth) and the Church triumphant (those in heaven). The believe presents the Church militant as just waiting to be “caught up” to the Church in heaven. The Church militant is call to build the kingdom of God, not to just sit around and wait for Christ to save us at the last second so that at that moment we will be united with the Church triumphant. [14] Through the communion of Saints we are already in union with the faithful departed now, we do not have to wait until we are “caught up”.  The souls of the faithful on earth, in purgatory and in heaven are united.

2. The rapture diminishes the value of the redemptive suffering. The theory of the rapture promises those who believe they will be spared from suffering. However, Christ throughout the Gospels tells us the exact opposite. Jesus tells us we have to pick up our crosses and follow him (Mt 10:38; 16:24) [15]

[1] Sacramentary
[2] Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 456
[3] CCC 675
[4] CCC 682
[5] CCC – 1021-1022
[6] CCC - 1040
[7] The Church’s Year pg. 16-17
[8] Revelation 22:4-5
[9] Beginning Apologetics 8 “The End Times” Pg. 11
[10] Catholic Survival Guide pg. 261
[11] Matthew 25:31-32, 46
[12] Beginning Apologetics 8 “The End Times” pg. 14
[13] 1 Thessalonians 4:16
[14] Open Wide the Doors to Christ pg. 186
[15] Ibid.