'The Time of Testing is Here'.
Was this just the usual kind of Lenten homily/sermon that is given by the pope? To be expected at this time of year? Or does it have deeper meaning?
He is in his final public hours. He is making everything he says count. Does he know that the antichrist is walking among us and that the end time
has arrived? (yes, yes, I'm sure someone will say that Benedict himself is the antichrist.

seriously though, the guy is retiring, he can't
be)
From Pope Benedict this week -
Vatican Insider
The time of testing is here. We must not use God for our own ends.” Resignation is a testimony of faith. “Don’t be afraid” “to fight the
evil spirit,” what is important is that we do it alongside Christ the Victor,” the Pope said during today’s Angelus before a crowd of 50
thousand faithful, ....
“When he began his public ministry – the Pope remarked – Jesus had to unmask and dismiss the Temptor’s false portrayal of the Messiah. But
these temptations – he added – are also a false portrayal of man, which threaten our conscience, disguised as proposals that seem convenient,
efficient and even good.”
Then came an even stronger statement: “The Temptor is devious: he does not push us towards evil directly, but towards a false good, making us
believe that the real things that matter are power and whatever satisfies our primary needs,” the Pope said speaking about the temptations the Devil
presented Jesus with.
In the Catholic church, most of the homilies and bible readings about the end times and second coming are around Christmas, during Advent. Having it
at this time of the year doesn't really fit the church calendar.
Sort of Related .. LONG but interesting blog putting together the secular and the religious about the final time of testing being here ...
Blog - The Final Time of Testing is Here
Time appears to be running out, with dire changes having already begun. Who knows, maybe there is only a year or two remaining of relative freedom
of movement before the controllers reveal their deep affinity with the dark side by setting up what seems to be their planned world dictatorship,
world government, and world currency. They have learned how to manufacture crises and disasters, such as 9/11, as a means of seizing more power. The
signs that they are springing the trap will be the increased bureaucratization of all aspects of life, wartime measures like rationing and
transportation checkpoints, centralization of financial institutions, control of populations through un- and under-employment, elimination of freedom
of speech on the internet, and continued growth of computerized systems containing personal identifying information. As has happened before, the
majority of people will likely be so sick of the rising tide of chaos the controllers have helped engineer they will willingly trade their autonomy
for the shackles of totalitarian order. ...
The testing has come, but it has been foreseen for a long time. The Master came two millennia ago and showed the way. Why do we think someone else is
coming now to save us? We were given the tools and the time to learn how to use them. Now we have no more excuses.