Wednesday 22 October 2025
St John Paul II
Romans 6:12-18. Our help is in the name of the Lord – Ps 123(124). Luke 12:39-48.
Balance point
The history of Christian thought about the immanence of the end times is fascinating. Today it is easy to deride those who become fixated on Christ’s immanent return. We’ve all seen some adopt Byzantine theorising and find all sorts of incredible secret codes in the Bible. These routine predictions, their consequences and their failure have all been harmful to the Christian witness. This area of thought is particularly odd given Jesus’ clarity on these matters being unknown to us. On the other hand, when we think of the institutional failures of Church leaders, it is clear what happens when we are not mindful of our forthcoming judgment. There is a balance here. Searching the pages of Daniel for hidden meaning is unhelpful, and likely spiritually harmful. So too is a failure to look to the Master’s return, especially when those forgetting have been ‘set over his household’.
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