In considering the teleological way we view the flow of time, we should read the “signs of the times” in the twenty-first century and sharpen our perception of the current erosion of faith and reason. As the era of old ideologies recedes, people in our complex societies are taking up a variety of contrasting world views, for example “post-modern” forms of irrationalism are being challenged by a revived rationalist scientism. Either of these trends may be accompanied by an underlying secularist ideology of dogmatic individualism, which justifies gross selfishness.

-Peter J. Elliott, Ceremonies Of The Liturgical Year