by Rev. Edward Correia

The Gospel talks about what we profess in the Creed each week: the final coming of the Lord. Yes, the Lord is going to come at the end of our lives. The Lord is also going to come to end the world as we know it.

The description of this end in the Gospel can scare us. It is a way of trying to explain the glorious coming that it will be. The Lord will not come again as He did the first time in Bethlehem.

He will come in glory. The whole of the universe: stars, moon sun, planets, and sky will display this glory and splendor.

We have our busy lives and not much time to think about it. We have been hearing about this final coming so long that we tend to think that it is a far way off. We really wonder how we are going to know when it is near.

Jesus points to the fig tree as a sign of its coming. For us the fig tree can be things that we should do, but we have put off: reconciliation with someone, contacting a family member who lives alone, developing our relationship with God.

For us together the signs are clear: increasing violence in our streets, a very high drop out rate in our high school; the new for more and better jobs, and the need for training for these jobs.

These are some of the root causes of what is going on in our area today.

If we respond to these signs, we will be helping the final coming of the Lord to happen sooner.

The question is: What can I do about it?

There are many things happening in our city to respond to this crisis. One very special event will be happening on Monday night at Mt. Carmel School Auditorium. It is called an Action meeting sponsored by twenty Protestant and Catholic Churches of Fall River and New Bedford called Interfaith Action or UIA.

We need hundreds of people to tell our police chief that we want more police in our most violent neighborhoods. It is called community policing. We want to tell our superintendent that we want to work with the big employers of the two cities to find ways of helping our young people see that they might have a good job waiting for them when they get out of school. The chancellor of U Mass Dartmouth, the president of Bristol Community College, and the president of St. Anne’s

Hospital will be there to hear our need for them to work with our schools to make this bridge between them and our youth. The mayor will be there to hear how we need to have programs for our adults to help them speak English better and to learn more so that they can apply for better jobs.

We do this by being there. We don’t have to talk or do anything but be there in great numbers.

Yes, it makes a difference. I was at the mayor’s office with other members of UIA. He spoke about the first UIA meeting here at St. James when we had 800 people. It makes people in authority listen.

The last Action meeting we had at Mt. Carmel School two years ago brought together 700 people. One of the officials said that he had expected a few concerned citizens. He said he was amazed at the number of people. It made an impression that this is important to us.

Those of you who have been before know that it begins at 7p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m.

I ask you to give me a special Christmas present early this year. All of you come. It is only two streets down from here.