Staying Rooted When the Church Feels Like Breaking News

“Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”
— Matthew 6:34

There is a temptation that follows many converts into the Catholic Church.

It comes from good intentions.
It comes from hunger for truth.
It comes from wanting to be faithful.

But slowly, if unchecked, it turns the spiritual life into a form of religious journalism.

I know it well.

Coming out of the Protestant world, everything was a sign.
Everything was a signal.
Everything was a warning.

End-times charts.
Right teachers.
Right prophets.
Right movements.
Right alignment.

If God was moving, I wanted front-row seats.
If prophecy was unfolding, I wanted insider access.
If revival was happening, I wanted to be with the right people.

It felt serious.
It felt holy.
It felt urgent.

But it was exhausting.

The Hidden Fear Beneath Prophecy-Chasing

What I eventually realized is that beneath all of it was fear.

Not fear of God — but fear of missing Him.

Fear of being on the wrong side.
Fear of being unprepared.
Fear of being left behind.
Fear of not recognizing the moment.

So I chased movements.
I chased voices.
I chased revelations.

I wanted certainty.
I wanted control.
I wanted to know what God was about to do next.

But the Catholic Church does not form men to be analysts of the future.

She forms men to be fathers of the present.

The Church Is Not a News Channel

One of the hardest adjustments after becoming Catholic is realizing:

The Church does not run on urgency.

She does not operate on panic.
She does not react to every headline.
She does not chase every apparition, prophecy, or warning.

She moves at the pace of eternity.

She forms men slowly.
She builds families patiently.
She sanctifies generations quietly.
She saves the world one soul at a time.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 673
“Since the Ascension Christ’s coming in glory has been imminent… This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are delayed.”

The Church holds two truths at once:

• Christ could come at any moment.

• And the Church may still walk through centuries.

So she prepares us not by predicting the future —
but by forming us for fidelity.

Crisis Catholicism and the Loss of Peace

In Catholic circles today, there is a growing addiction to:

• Crisis Catholicism

• Emergency Catholicism

• Apocalypse Catholicism

• Resistance Catholicism

• Political Catholicism

Everything is framed as collapse.
Everything is framed as battle.
Everything is framed as final hour.

There is always:

• A new warning

• A new prophecy

• A new timeline

• A new enemy

• A new “it begins now”

And slowly, peace disappears.

Prayer becomes anxious.
Devotion becomes fearful.
Formation becomes reactionary.
Faith becomes survivalism.

But Christ did not form His apostles to be watchmen scanning the horizon.

He formed them to be shepherds.

St. John Chrysostom
“Let us not busy ourselves with conjectures about the end, but let us make ourselves ready for it.”

A Father Cannot Live in Panic

A father cannot live in constant emergency mode.

His children need:

• Stability

• Presence

• Calm

• Consistency

• Trust

They do not need a man who is always on edge, waiting for collapse.
They need a man rooted in God, rooted in truth, rooted in peace.

“God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”
— 1 Corinthians 14:33

A father who is always decoding prophecy will never fully inhabit the moment.
And a man who cannot inhabit the moment cannot lead a family.

The Kingdom of God is built in kitchens.
At dinner tables.
In bedtime prayers.
In early mornings.
In ordinary days.

Not in YouTube thumbnails.

How the Saints Understood the End Times

The saints never lived in panic.

They lived in readiness.

St. Augustine
“For you do not know when the Lord will come. But He has commanded you to watch, not to calculate.”

St. Gregory the Great
“The signs of the end are not given so that we may know the day, but so that we may be prepared for it.”

St. Benedict
“Keep death daily before your eyes.”

Not to terrify — but to keep the soul sober.

The saints were not formed by urgency.
They were formed by obedience.

How to Navigate Devotions with Maturity

The Church gives us a simple posture:

Catechism 67
“Private revelations do not belong… to the deposit of faith. Their role is not to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history.”

So the mature Catholic rule of life becomes:

I receive what the Church approves.
I respect what the Church has not yet judged.
I ignore what breeds fear and urgency.
I remain faithful no matter what happens.

Divine Mercy? Yes.
Fatima? Yes.
The Rosary? Yes.
Confession? Always.
Reparation? Absolutely.

But I refuse:

• Prophecy as entertainment

• Devotion as panic culture

• Prayer as emergency protocol

• Faith as political alignment

• Christianity as survival training

The Father’s Rule of Life

A Catholic father must choose what kind of man he will be.

Not a watcher of signs.
Not a decoder of timelines.
Not a consumer of crisis.

But a builder.

A builder of prayer.
A builder of virtue.
A builder of discipline.
A builder of peace.
A builder of trust.

My children do not need me to predict the future.

They need me to love them today.
To teach them how to pray.
To show them how to suffer well.
To model repentance.
To walk them into the sacraments.
To anchor them in Christ.

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:58

Final Formation Principle

The Church does not prepare you for the end of the world.

She prepares you for the end of your life.

And if you are ready for that,
you are ready for anything.