Staff Directory

Born in the Philippines, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Divine Word University located in Tacloban. Then, I graduated from the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary. Next, I completed a diploma course of Pre-marital and Marital Counselling at Ateneo Loyola University in Quezon. Finally, I was ordained November 21, 1998 for the Diocese of Naval, Biliran, Philippines.

Moving to the Phoenix Diocese in 2008, I have been Parochial Vicar at St. Mary’s in Chandler, Queen of Peace in Mesa and San Francisco de Asis in Flagstaff. I was assigned as Parochial Administrator here at Our Lady of Joy in 2013. I was incardinated as clergy of the Diocese of Phoenix and appointed Pastor of Our Lady of Joy on July 29, 2014. It is a blessing to be your pastor!

I am from Makurdi, the capital of Benue State in Nigeria and have nine brothers and sisters. My journey to the priesthood began in 2002 when I gained admission to the Via Christi Society. I then trained at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Makurdi and at the National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul in Gwagwalada, Abuja. I was ordained a Deacon in 2009 and in 2010 I was ordained a priest.

I have a postgraduate diploma in Education and an M.A. in Philosophy. After seven years of service in Nigeria and then Flagstaff, AZ, I arrived at Our Lady of Joy on December 30, 2017. I love meditation and I play soccer, ping pong and volley ball. I love reading, listening to good music and traveling.

Originally from New Jersey, I come from a large Catholic family. I have a brother and four sisters. I graduated the University of Delaware with a degree in Economics and Mathematics quite a long time ago! My wife, Mary Linda and I attended Delaware together and then served together in the Air Force. I also have an MA in Theology. Mary Linda and I been married for 48 years, although our counts don’t always match, and have three children and two grandchildren.

I spent 40 years in Information Technology and am thoroughly a geek. I retired several years ago as head of IT for DirecTV. I enjoy sailing, flying and underwater photography.

Deacon Dan was a senior executive with Reyes Holdings, a privately held company based in Rosemont, Illinois from 2000 to 2019. During that time, he served as Executive Chairman of Great Lakes Coca-Cola Bottling for 5 years and as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Reyes Holdings for 15 years. Prior to that he was a partner with the accounting firm KPMG.

In 2016 he was ordained a deacon in the Joliet, Illinois Diocese and transferred to the Phoenix Diocese when he became a full-time resident of Scottsdale in 2020.

Deacon Dan graduated from the University of Illinois in 1984. He is a member of several public and charitable boards of directors. He and his wife Anne have two adult children who now call Phoenix area home.

I knew from a fairly early age that I felt the call to serve the Lord in ministry. However, having been born and raised a Protestant, I tested several denominations, but never discerned the call to pursue a path to ministry in those communities. After converting to the Catholic faith, I began to serve the church in a manner that I had never done before. I began serving the church in several ministries at my parish, Our Lady of Joy in Carefree, Arizona.

Over time, I served my parish as a lector, Eucharistic minister, RCIA as a catechist, served on the parish council, and began to lead a prayer group.

I was very comfortable serving in a variety of ways and soon felt called to more intimate service around the altar. Through this, the Holy Spirit led me to discern a call to Holy Orders as a Permanent Deacon.

With the constant support of my wife, family, the deacons and priest of my parish, and support of the laity, the formation journey began.

The journey has been rigorous, and the growth in all areas of life has been immense, especially my prayer life while learning what it means to be a servant of Christ.

I am looking forward to working among the community of Our Lady of Joy Parish. I am from Ireland originally. I joined the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate after being in the United States for twelve years. I love our charism of door-to-door evangelization and our contemplative spirit. For most of my religious life I have done door-to-door evangelization. I have worked in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Oklahoma, California and Arizona. I, with one of our Sisters, opened a mission in Nigeria, West Africa, where I spent eleven years. Since I have been in the Phoenix Diocese I spent six years working at St. Vincent De Paul Parish, Phoenix, where I led the RCIA program for the English speaking; taught in the RE program; started an adult group who wanted to learn more about the Faith, and; with the help of parishioners, visited over five thousand homes. For the past two years I have been spiritual director for “Maggie’s Place”. I am praying for all I will meet in my new mission at Our Lady of Joy Parish. Pray for me, too!

It is a blessing to be part of this wonderful community at Our Lady of Joy! I have been a Parish Visitor of Mary Immaculate for over 20 years. I love being a Sister!! I get to be all-His and serve His people with a spiritual mother’s heart. The Lord has blessed me in every mission with beautiful opportunities to be an instrument of His Holy Spirit in bringing many to experience His personal love for them and embrace His wonderful plan for their lives, so precious to Him.

Most recently, I served as Chaplain at All Saints Catholic Newman Center, serving ASU students, for the past six years. During my time at Newman, I have spiritually guided many students and young adults. I directed the RCIA and Confirmation programs, the young adult group for 20’s & 30’s, women’s discernment groups, and taught “Catholicism 101” on campus. Before that, I was the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at St. Raymond’s, Bronx, NY, for seven years. I also served as Youth Minister and Confirmation program director at St. John the Baptist, Rome, NY, for seven years. Our Community is dedicated to the works of evangelization and catechesis. We seek out those who are far away and help them come back to Jesus and His Church. We teach our beautiful Catholic Faith to all ages.

I am originally from Long Island, New York, however my immediate family resides in Florida, where we moved when I was a teenager. I have a brother and a sister, both married. Fun fact: My nephew, Justin Kelley, is in formation with the Jesuits in their southern province! Please pray for me as I will for all of you daily!

In December 2014, I moved from Pennsylvania to Phoenix. I had lived in PA all my life and earned my BA in Psychology from St. Francis University. I worked with special needs children, particularly autistic children, in both home and school settings. I started teaching Sunday School when I was in high school and started a new young-adult group in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. As a child, I loved to sing and my favorite church song was “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart.” Only I thought it was, “You Satisfy the Hungry Horse.”

The short answer as to why I came to the desert is the Lord. Moving to Phoenix was a big step that I really didn’t want to get wrong. I prayed long and hard about it. I’m not one to usually ask for a sign but this one time I did. I was driving to work one day and talking with God asking for a sign and to make it REALLY clear. I didn’t want to put any restrictions on the Lord or tell Him how and by when He had to do it. I just wanted it to be clear. Two or three days later, I was driving home from work and at the exact same intersection that I had said that prayer, a big U-Haul truck pulled out in front of me with Phoenix Arizona written on the side in big letters and pictures of saguaro cacti. To top it all off, it had an Arizona license plate. I was stuck driving behind it for 2 blocks. If that is not a sign, I don’t know what is.

I am very fortunate to hold the position of Coordinator of Stewardship and Communications at Our Lady of Joy. My goal is to make sure that every parishioner knows we offer a wealth of opportunities and support with the intention of increasing awareness and participation in our Catholic faith. Our three daughters attended Notre Dame Prep where I served as Communications Coordinator for 12 years. Born in Tucson but raised abroad, I earned a B.A. in Journalism from the U of A and a master’s degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

It is an honor to be the Director of Parish Operations/Finance & Human Resources here at Our Lady of Joy. After a career in retail management and then wholesale with Levi Straus & Co., I was longing to do something that would involve my faith and helping other people. I was hired as the Coordinator of Stewardship here in 2002 and after enjoying many years in that role, I have spent the last seven years in my current role. It is my privilege to work alongside our many talented and giving Priests, Religious, staff, parishioners and volunteers.

I grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona and graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. My husband, four children and I have been members of Our Lady of Joy since 1995, so needless to say, this is our home. As a family, we have celebrated many special times and have many wonderful memories here at Our Lady of Joy. It is my hope that you find our parish to be your home as well.

Formerly the Coordinator for Youth Ministry at OLOJ, Katherine Lahera is the first Coordinator of Audio & Video/Social Media for our parish. Her mission is to give Our Lady of Joy a stronger online presence and to open additional lines of communications with our parishioners. Katherine has been instrumental during the pandemic with new tasks including recording video messages from our clergy and overseeing live-stream masses so that we can continue to serve our parishioners both at church and in their homes. The scope of her duties includes coordinating, facilitating, implementing, and evaluating all audio/visual, video and social media needs of the parish. She also oversees a team of volunteer assistants who help with our production needs.

It is an honor to be the Director of Faith Formation here at Our Lady of Joy. In 1992, I joined the National Evangelization Teams (NET) and have been either volunteering or working full time for the Catholic Church throughout Arizona and California ever since. I have written for the Catholic Sun, been interviewed on Immaculate Heart Radio, guested on The Broken Halo radio show and facilitated hundreds of retreats.

I live in Maricopa County with my wonderful wife Maryrose and my amazing daughter Georgiana. Together, they put up with my support of the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Madysen "Mady" Mooradian recently joined our staff as the new Coordinator of Youth Ministry. She has a B.A. in Anthropology and previous experience as a Youth Minister in Topeka, Kansas. She most recently worked for Mt. Claret Retreat House in Phoenix helping them with their on-line communication needs. In her free hours, Mady enjoys drinking iced coffee, hiking, exploring thrift stores and playing board games. Mady says she is convinced that if Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Pope St. John Paul were alive today, the three of them would be the best of friends and climb mountains together.

I am blessed to be the Director of Preschool at Our Lady of Joy Catholic Preschool. I have been in education for 17 years in both private and Catholic schools. A positive, engaging and safe learning environment is the setting here at OLOJ Catholic Preschool and I am proud to lead our great school in academic excellence in a faith filled surroundings.

My family has been parishioners at Our Lady of Joy for over 25 years and we love being a part of the Cave Creek community. I enjoy being a part of the community in which I was raised, growing up in Cave Creek has been wonderful. Our two children, Warren age 15 and Elena age 12 enjoy participating in church activities, playing basketball and camping.

Credentials

• M.ED Administration and Supervision/University of Phoenix
• B.A Science /University of Arizona
• Arizona Certified Principal
• Arizona Teaching Certificate/Highly Qualified Biology
• Structured English Immersion Certificate
• Catechist Certification