What If...Father Malley author of the Daniel 9 - The God Prophet. Had determined that Oct of 2020 will be the return of Jesus and the end of the world?
As the author of Daniel 9 - The God Prophet he would have, known the signs to watch for as the start of armageddon. False Prophet (Trump), Fires (Australia, California, @ Riots), Plague (Covid-19), Return of Jesus
Perhaps Father Malley is trying to be a good host to Jesus by requesting new beds. This would be one way of how he could predict the time of his death. Aarmageddon everyone dies...
Another way of knowing timeframe of you own death. Would be the "Heaven's Gate" way and space ship behind a comet. I'm not hearing things sounding like he is in a cult, but he might have start one tho... remember he asked for a recorder to record audio of his books.
Perhaps Bianca or Andrea could recall if Sugar Maples were in the Father Malley book they read. Not sure how that fits in.