The next day, Saturday, we had some time to explore the city and enjoy the warm, sunny San Diego weather. Our tour included the beautiful Mission San Diego de Acala, the first mission founded in Alta California. And to top off our day of fun, we were treated to a night of entertainment by the students of the University of California San Diego Newman Center who demonstrated both great talent and a love for their pastor, Fr. Mark Padrez. On Sunday, Bros. Giovanni, John Marie, and Stephen Maria shared their vocation stories with receptive congregations at the three Sunday Masses. And of course, all continued to enjoy the near perfect climate. On Monday, the rest of the brothers arrived from Riverside for the last stop on the tour. Having soaked in some rays, we visited Fr. Mark’s ministry at UC San Diego as well as the University of San Diego, where Fr. John Flannery. has his ministry in connection with a diocesan house of formation. On Tuesday, we trekked out to Catholic Answers and were given a tour by Fr. Vincent Serpa, who serves as chaplain and apologist for the organization. Fr. Vincent is also a former Novice Master of our Province. As part of the tour we met Karl Keating, the founder of Catholic Answers, who encouraged us to fulfill our charism of preaching the gospel to the world. The hospitality of the community and parishioners of San Diego warmed our hearts, the California sun warmed our bodies, and some of our tour fatigue started to dissipate. But something was missing. The call of home filled our souls. So on Wednesday we packed our bags, said goodbye to San Diego, and set our sights on San Francisco.
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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA (as told by Brother John Marie)—While the brothers
in Riverside were enjoying a relaxing evening in the movie room at the Newman Center, Fr.
Anthony and we other four novices packed our many belongings in the blue minivan and then
piled in on top of them.
