by Katie Vasquez
Kneeling before Bishop Robert Brennan, Daniel Maher solidified his commitment to the Diocese of Brooklyn by becoming an ordained deacon. It was a calling that he admits he wouldn’t have considered many years ago when he battled addiction.
“I picked up some really nasty habits and drank a lot and got in trouble a lot and caused a lot of trouble,” said Maher.
Deacon Daniel was raised Catholic in Jackson Heights and then Douglaston. He served as an altar server at his parish, St Anastasia, before eventually falling away from the faith.
At 18, he joined the army and participated in Operation Desert Shield in Iraq. It was during his service that he started looking for God again.
“But it was like a floating craps game trying to find a priest in a place in Iraq in 1990,” said Maher.
After his time in the army, Deacon Daniel joined the New York City Police Department. It was there he witnessed one of the worst tragedies in American history.
“I spent a lot of time at ground zero with my friends and with great people, and I learned how hard cops can work when called upon to make sacrifices,” said Maher.
Eventually, after seeing so much sadness, Deacon Daniel found his way to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians Church in Woodside, Queens.
“I started coming to mass over here, and I felt like home,” said Maher.
Father Joseph Gibino is a spiritual adviser to Deacon Dan. The vicar of evangelization and catechesis in the Diocese of Brooklyn says the deacon’s faith journey is a perfect example of lent.
“All of Lent is about that conversion, and when you look at Dan’s life story in the military and in the police now, it is, and it has been one long career of service,” said Father Gibino. “And now to hear the call of a vocation to move from career to vocation is amazing.”
Now, Deacon Daniel passes on that faith to others by teaching religious education classes, just another service for the faith he loves.