Is it possible that Jesus will return for this generation?

No, it is not possible, for many reasons. For a full explanation on this point, see my Catholic eschatology books. It is not possible to cover every important point in a brief post.

The following is just a brief summary of a few of the points pertaining to this question (in no particular order).

1. The kingdom of the Ten Kings must occur well before the Antichrist’s Reign.

Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, and Father of the Church, interpreted the Book of the Prophet Daniel as referring to the Antichrist’s reign, and to the reign of the ten kings, which must occur before the Antichrist’s reign. The kingdom of the ten kings reigns over the whole world for a long time, prior to the rise within that kingdom of the Antichrist.

2. Three other kingdoms rise and fall prior to the rise of the kingdom of the ten kings.

These three kingdoms and the fourth (the kingdom of the ten kings) are described in Daniel as successive kingdoms. One rises and falls, then the next, then the next, then the kingdom of the ten kings rises, then the Antichrist reigns for a week of years (about 7 years). After that, Christ returns. But the rise and fall of so many kingdoms cannot be fit into one generation.

3. The first of these four kingdoms is that of the great Catholic monarch. His reign has not yet begun. According to a number of different prophecies from Saints, the great Catholic monarch fights a war to free Europe from oppression (and from an occupation after a previous war). Then the great Catholic monarch reigns for many years. All this has not yet happened. Also, the war in which Europe is first captured (some sources say by Muslims), which then necessitates another war by the great Catholic monarch to free Europe, has not yet happened.

4. At La Salette, the Blessed Virgin Mary said that God “will send chastisements which will follow one after another for more than thirty-five years.”

This chastisement ends with a very severe set of events:

“At the first stroke of His lightning sword, the mountains and the whole of nature will tremble with terror, because the disorders and the crimes of men pierce the vault of the heavens. Paris will be burned and Marseilles engulfed; several great cities will be shaken and engulfed by earthquakes: it will be believed that all is lost: only homicides will be seen, only the noise of weapons and blasphemies will be heard. The just will suffer much; their prayers, their penances and their tears will climb even up to heaven and all the people of God will ask for forgiveness and mercy, and will ask for my help and my intercession. Then Jesus Christ by an act of His justice and of His great mercy for the just, will command to His angels that all His enemies be put to death.”

This set of sufferings (the first part of the tribulation) is followed by about 25 years of peace:

“This peace among men will not be long; 25 years of abundant harvests will make them forget that the sins of men are the cause of all the pains which come upon the earth.”

Then “A forerunner of the antichrist” will rise and fall.

Next: “The earth will be struck all kinds of plagues [in addition to pestilence and famine which will be general]; there will be wars until the last war, which will then be made by the ten kings of the antichrist, which kings will have all one same design and will be the only ones who will rule the world. Before these arrive, there will be a type of false peace in the world….”

Only thereafter does the Antichrist rise to power.
Jesus Christ returns at the end of the reign of the Antichrist:

[2 Thess]
{2:8} And then that iniquitous one [i.e. the Antichrist] shall be revealed, the one whom the Lord Jesus shall bring to ruin with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy at the brightness of his return….

There are many prophecies from various Saints and mystics, as well as many passages from Sacred Scripture, that support this general timeline. In particular, see my book:
The First Part of the Tribulation

Therefore, the Return of Jesus Christ does not occur in this generation, nor the next. Several generations (a few hundred years) is needed to fit all of the above events.

Ron Conte

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