PEOPLE

Newly ordained Dcn. Jeffrey Strom did not think of becoming a deacon until in recent years, when in the course of a month three different people suggested the role to him. This caught his attention and he started taking steps toward this ordained ministry and the Lord kept opening doors.

You might say Adriana Vasquez came to her calling as an advocate of Natural Family Planning quite naturally. The new NFP coordinator for the Diocese of Phoenix has parents who taught NFP well into their 70s.

James Lackey will be the first to tell you he has not suffered injustice. And yet, as he responds to detailed questions about how he grew up and came to be a leader in the Black Catholic community, it becomes apparent: this is a man who has borne wrongs patiently.

For many middle-class men in suburbia, Saturday afternoon spells a round of golf or professional sports on television. Sean Kelly is not one of them.

If you've been to any of the Phoenix Catholic Women's Conferences, you've witnessed the fruit of one woman's passion for helping fellow Catholic women along the path toward holiness.

Rosemary Dougherty credits her 12 years of Catholic education and the strong faith and family bonds nurtured in her first-generation Italian American home for helping her weather the storms of life.

Fraternal roots can run deep. Half of the men Kevin Murphy referred to as “uncle” growing up were actually his dad’s fraternity brothers.

Fr. Bradley Peterson is a priest of the Carmelite Order, founded 800 years ago on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. He came to Arizona as a teenager and has been pastor of St. Agnes Parish since 2009. The central Phoenix church is home to some 1,600 families.

Seven years after what was supposed to be a short-term internship through AmericCorps, Norma Carrillo is still at St. Vincent de Paul and helps countless volunteers, especially young children, embrace the idea of service.

There’s no telling what a lunchtime meeting twice per month can do for the soul. The impact on those they pray for during that meeting — their top agenda item — is equally immeasurable. The main order of business: pray for and network with priests, religious and those in discernment.