Dear Ben:

One of the signs preceding the General Judgment, according to Church Fathers, is the return of Enoch and Elijah as the two witnesses in Revelation 11.

As mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The belief that these two men, who have never tasted death, are reserved for the last times to be precursors of the Second Advent was practically unanimous among the Fathers, which belief they base on several texts of Scripture. (Concerning Elijah see Malachi 4:5-6; Sirach 48:10; Matthew 17:11; concerning Enoch see Sirach 44:16)

As for the reason that Elijah and Enoch did not die, the Navarre Bible Commentary explains:

This passage deals with one of the most mysterious, and also the most popular, episodes in the Old Testament–Elijah being taken up to heaven by a whirlwind. God wants to show the special destiny reserved for Elijah on the account of this fidelity, a destiny similar to Enoch's for having walked with God (cf. Genesis 5:21 – 24).

The function of the chariot and horses of fire is to separate the two profits when Elijah is been swept up. The book of Sirach, in it's time, will interpret them as a sign that God has brought him up to heaven (cf. Sirach 48:8 – 9). Chariots of fire are also a symbol of God's presence and of his glory, as in Psalm 68:17, for example. The fact that Elijah had not died is the reason why is assigned a role in the future, at the messianic restoration of the 12 tribes (cf. Sirach 48:10) and before the coming of the "Day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5).

But where did Enoch and Elijah go? Jesus said, “No one has gone up to Heaven except the One who came down from there– the Son of Man” (John 3:13).

St. Thomas Aquinas give is an answer:

Reply to Objection 2. Elias was taken up into the atmospheric heaven, but not in to the empyrean heaven, which is the abode of the saints: and likewise Enoch was translated into the earthly paradise, where he is believed to live with Elias until the coming of Antichrist. (Summa theologiae III, q. 49, a. 5)

Empyrean heaven is probably the the supernatural realm of heaven that was closed until Christ. So where is this earthly paradise Elijah and Enoch went to? We do not know.

Why is any of this about Enoch and Elijah not dying, or coming back at the time of the antichrist unbelievable? God can do anything. No big deal.

As for who will be the antichrist, he may not be a person, but a regime. The Navarre Bible Commentary comments about this beast (antichrist) in Revelation 13:

We do not know if the author is referring to a specific individual (such as the Asiarch who was charged with fostering that of emperor worship in Asia Minor) or a group (such as the pagan priests who exercised and propagated that cult). There is little doubt that this beast is introduced in order to draw attention to the political-religious implications of emperor worship and its consequences for Christians.  Basically the beast is a symbol for regimes which reject God and put men on a pedestal.  Nowadays enter worship is seldom a problem but militant atheism has been a modern parallel whether in the form of atheistic secularism or a dialectic materialism.

Materialism works in the same deceptive way as the beast does, for although "it sometimes also speaks of the 'spirit' and of 'questions of the spirit,' as for example of the fields of culture or morality, it does so only insofar as the consider certain facts is derived from matter (epiphenomena), since according to this system matter is the one and only form of being. It follows, according to this interpretation, that religion can only be understood as a kind of 'idealistic illusion,' to be fought with the most suitable means and methods according to circumstances of time and place, in order to eliminate it from society it for man's very heart" (John Paul II, Dominum et Vivificantem, 56).

Obama is creating such a society. Neither he or his regime are the antichrist, but I believe they are a precursor to get us use to a kind of government that will be the antichrist.

As for Christian suffering during the end times, yes we will suffer. Such suffering is a privilege. To suffer for the faith is one of the greatest honors we can be given. To join our suffering with Christ's is welcomed.

We are already beginning to see this suffering. Persecutions are already beginning against any orthodox Christian who will not compromise his faith for political correctness. This is as it should be. Be not afraid.

What are we to believe about the end times? Read about it is the Catechism 668-682. Here is an excerpt (nos. 675-677):

The Church's ultimate trial

675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers (cf. Lk 18:18; Mt. 24:12). The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth (cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15:19-20) will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh (cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18,22).

676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.

677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection (cf. Rev 19:1-9). The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven (cf. Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2-4). God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world (cf. Rev 20:12 2 Pet 3:12-13).

Be not afraid. Jesus promises he would be with us until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary