Theme: Parousia and preparedness

Exegetical note
On the lips of Jesus this parable was probably about the coming Reign of God and the urgency of preparedness. But for Matthew it is about the delay of the parousia experienced by the Church of his own day (some half-century later), which by the twentieth century looks more like a non-occurrence. The challenge today, then, is to interpret meaningfully how the Christ comes "again" in our own time and what Christian watchfulness might mean now.

Call to Worship
Leader: Sisters and brothers, we are call…