MONDAY, October 26 (Alfred the Great)

One recent cosmological theory suggests that the universe continues to regenerate itself in endless creative cycles. That idea, whether accurate or not, rings true with regard to the life of the spirit and our continual recreation through Christ.

So the biblical passages about the end times may offer more of a microcosmic than a macrocosmic view, the story of a single soul rather than of the entire universe. Christ, the victor depicted in Revelation, forms the beginning and end of the cycle: first and last, alpha and omega.

The love of Christ draws the wandering soul; the soul dies to itself, comes alive through Christ, and takes part in the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, at some point, the human intellect begins to think of itself as self-reliant and self-determining, and the cycle of death and life must begin again. Then comes death, then life, then eternity with God.

PRAY for the Diocese of Toronto (Ontario, Canada)

Ps 41, 52 * 44; Zechariah 1:7-17; Matthew 12:43-50