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The blue van—later known as the Malo Mobile—was not having a good week. Earlier, on the road to Los Angeles, it was the target of an airborne rock that landed at the base of the windshield. The chip had the potential to crack the windshield in two. This is how we arrived at Tempe. The tour was unexpectedly detoured to Los Angeles so that we could attend the funeral in Los Angeles. We were about midway through our southern tour at this point. Health-wise we were fine…for the moment. Entering Phoenix, the white van had exited the Interstate to stay in north Phoenix at Most Holy Trinity Parish and School. The blue van continued to Tempe and in twenty minutes we arrived at the Jordan House, the Dominican residence. Jordan House is located near Arizona State University's campus ministry, All Saints Catholic Newman Center. Father Cassian Lewinski, a former Novice Master, welcomed us into Jordan House. He lives there with Frs. Nathan Castle, Fred Lucci and Miguel Rolland who is completing his PhD in Cultural Anthropology. First things first, Fr. Cassian took Br. Isaiah and me to Phil and Mary’s house. They are generous parishioners of the Newman Center that gave us rooms and beds for our tired bodies. Fr. Nathan, Director of the Newman Center, had a plan for our visit which included introductions, briefings, and meetings with his many Newman Center staffers. Fr. Fred was our guide throughout the days and showed us his ministry with the students. His campus ministry activities may have been the most unusual, yet functional, of any of the friars the novices may have seen. He walked the brothers to the main ASU student thorough-fare just outside the campus chapel set up some chairs and a table and said, “Now we wait.” Some of the novice brothers looked perplexed, saying, “So we are just going to sit here on these chairs and wait?” Fr. Fred, with an amused smile, patiently said, “You’ll see.” Shortly, a few of the students that go the Newman Center began to arrive, one by one, on bike or by foot. Many people stared at the table, see the white brigade of habits and all the students, wondering what was causing the crowd. Those students who were curious were quickly engaged in conversation with Fr. Fred, inviting them to attend the Newman Center. After a couple hours of “new-man” fishing, we left as the students made use of the recently-vacated chairs. We had appointments with other staff members. During the meetings with them, we learned about each of their ministries and were impressed by their devotion, energy and commitment to the Newman Center and to the renovation/expansion project. Over the next two evenings, we had two meetings. One was a vocation meeting where we met some students searching for their own futures with Christ. Another one was the vibrant Dominican Laity meeting where Fr. Miguel gave a presentation on his life as a missionary in Chiapas, Mexico. He explained the injustices experienced by the native mountain people and their dedication to the Church. On one of these nights, we celebrated Fr. Anthony’s birthday at Jordan House with a fantastic meal, decorations, cake and a cowboy hat for the birthday boy. We even had a surprise visit by Barney Fife of Mayberry with advice for the Novices. This was hard to hear above the uproarious laughter, since it was actually Fr. Miguel’s dead-on impression of the one bullet deputy. It was nice to visit Jordan House and see the impressive gifts and talents of these friars. The day before we left Tempe for Tucson, Bro. Michael Augustine replaced the wounded upper radiator hose that kept going strong four days without a leak. The window however, had cracked overnight and at this point was beyond repair.
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TEMPE, ARIZONA (as told by
