The next day, some of the brothers, hosted by Bro. Raphael “Rocky” Domingo, took a tour of Park City, host of the famed Sundance Film Festival, a mining-turned-arts town, which is about twenty minutes away from SLC. Fr. Anthony found out that he may have had some relative who mined in “dem dar hills”. Meanwhile, Bros. Jonah and Kohl, hosted by Fr. Peter Rogers (who was in the city for vacation) went skiing at Solitude, a nearby ski resort. (I should mention that Jonah and Kohl have never skied before. You could see Bro. Jonah’s pink ski cap from nearly a half mile away….) On Tuesday, a tragedy transpired. We were informed that Bro. Jonah’s sibling-brother was involved in a severe trucking accident. Leaving for Los Angeles the next day, we wished him God’s blessing for him and his family. Later that week, we visited Temple Square, which is the location of famed headquarters for the Mormon faith. All the tour guides—who were all women missionaries—gave accounts of the miracle with the seagulls and a nice tour of the Visitors Center, where we saw the famous Christus statue (which vaguely resembles the Sacred Heart of Jesus), a 3D map of Jerusalem and several commercials that promoted the LDS Church. That weekend, it was finally time to work. My faith life was born at a Newman Center, so being back in one like St Catherine’s—where the community was so united—felt like an incredible dream. Bro. Pio opened up the preaching schedule at the Saturday Vigil Mass. The token Evangelist of the class, he set a few fires while telling his tale, telling them to always love their God and their neighbor. At the Student Choir Mass, Bro. Christopher preached his story, brilliantly opening with an allusion to The Simpsons. To quote the newspaper article that would later be published in the Deseret News, “[Brother] Chris, the redhead, rocked the house.” Meeting with the students at the spaghetti dinner after the Mass was a delight. Bro. John met a student who was not only from Georgia (his home state), but attended Aquinas High School (his alma mater). Being part of a campus ministry for five years myself, I caught up with one or two students I had met along the way. It’s funny. One of them looked at me and said, “I know I know you, but—“ “Well,” I responded, “with a shaved head and a funky new outfit, two years ago, I wouldn’t have recognize myself either.” I am happy to report that once we arrived, the SLC community was quite generous in giving us their brand new sweatshirts. Throughout the tour, we would wear them, sometimes at the bane of other Newman Centers.
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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (as told by Brother Isaiah)—The Church of
Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints is a fascinating faith. On the first night in SLC, we
received a talk by a former Mormon who converted to Catholicism.
