There has been a bit of internet flutter regarding the rare celestial event of a Tetrad of Blood Moons. In case you have been under a rock these last weeks, the tetrad, or four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses, occurring at approximately six month intervals with each eclipse happening on a major Jewish holy day is seen as a sign by some that big events are in the offing, particularly for Israel.
The general theory goes something like this, when this rare event falls on Jewish holy days, momentous things happen “In 1493, a tetrad occurred while the Jews were being expelled from Spain. Another tetrad occurred in 1949, soon after the state of Israel was founded. The last tetrad happened in 1967, during the Six-Day War between Arabs and Israelis.”
So that is the background. As is usual, there is no shortage of people interpreting the meaning of this event, they range from mild concern to rapture readiness camps and everything in between.
The mainstream press and commentators of various kinds love these types of stories if for no other reasons than it sells copy and gives them a chance to ridicule the rubes who look for such signs.
While I personally do not ascribe much portent to this happening, I would like to remind my fellow Catholics that the ideas represented here are not so far fetched. As faithful Catholics we believe that God has used signs in the heavens to communicate with mankind and we believe He will do it again.
Jesus himself said of his second coming, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken”
Peter says in Acts “will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.”
And of course, the Birth of Jesus was announced by celestial event. By all indications, since Herod was unaware of the star, the celestial event took some interpretation and faith on the part of the Magi.
God has used celestial signs and God will use celestial signs. I am certainly not saying we should ascribe any particular meaning to this current event, but I won’t make fun of them either. One day, they just might be right.
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