In encouraging us to lead good lives, the writings of St Paul frequently, as in today's extract from 1Timothy, remind us of the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" or the "day of our Lord Jesus Christ". The meaning of our life and so the meaning of all our thoughts, attitudes, work and actions, is not confined to this world alone but is more deeply and significantly derived from God's work of creating us, saving us and sanctifying us - a work which will be brought to its eternal and graceful conclusion on "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." For the whole of creation and the human race as a whole that day will be the end of the world, but for the individual, it will be the day of death when Jesus gathers each one of us to himself and presents us to the Father as his redeemed children.

One of the saddest human experiences is that of getting lost, of losing one's way in life, finding life to be utterly meaningless. Some spiritual writers and others speak of the need of an "inner compass" a clear and reliable guidance principle to help us get the most out of life in terms of happiness, wholeness, meaning and love. For us who are Christians that inner compass is the person of Jesus, his teaching and the mystery of the "Christ event" from the Incarnation to the sending of the Holy Spirit. It is Jesus, sent by the Father who is our way to the Father and so guides us in holiness of life into the eternal presence of the Father on "the day of Our Lord Jesus Christ."