Father John Korcsmar went out to Our Lady of Soledad in Coachella, CA.  Father Bruce Cecil is pastor there, and Father John Connor also works in the parish.  Father Pete Pacini is running the Valley Missionary Program.  (Father Pepe Martelli is the director of the Valley Missionary Program (VMP), but he has recently had a quadruple bypass and is still recuperating at Holy Cross House at Notre Dame.  We expect him to return to VMP in March, 2007).

Father Jaime Irwin also resides in the parish.  He took John on a tour of Coachella and Indio.  Then they went to a mall with lots of very interesting stores and restaurants.  One of the restaurants claimed to have the largest selection of draft beer in the world, but Jaime and Irwin did not go in there.  They went to Borders Books and then to a taco place.  It's more their style.

Afterwards, they went to a home where they met with a deacon, a deacon candidate, and a couple.  Father Irwin meets with them each Friday.  They read the Sunday readings, think of a title for the homily and share some basic ideas and any personal experiences that might highlight the theme or the idea.

Jaime very gently invited them to share their thoughts about what they thought that the reading was inviting us to think about.  He asked some gentle, but leading questions like, "Why do you suppose this reading is on the First Sunday of Advent?" and "Where did you hear that in the reading?"