By Katie Vasquez
Father Morty O’Shea delivers the word of God at a weekday mass at St Sebastian church in Woodside.
The priest who hails from Ireland says he’s relied on the teachings of the church since he was at least 7 years old.
“That kind of sense of God’s presence in my life has never really gone away,” said Father O’Shea.
Father Morty would eventually follow Christ’s call to enter the priesthood, and in 2013 he was ready to serve him in a big way.
“I was in the prime of life,” said Father O’Shea. “I was going to take over a big new parish in Corpus Christi, Texas.”
Until he received a shocking diagnosis.
“They said I had multiple myeloma,” said Father O’Shea, “when you hear that you have cancer, you know, that kind of shakes the foundations a bit.”
Father Morty started treatment, but in 2021 doctors told him there was nothing more they could do. The priest prepared for the worst.
“That was where I was going to, you know, spend my last days,” said Father O’Shea.
His brother Jack, who lives in Westchester County, picked up the fight, and worked to get him into Memorial Sloan-kettering Cancer center.
“I was not going to give up on my brother. I would not give up on my brother,” said Father O’Shea’s brother, Jack.
Father Morty moved to New York in the fall to continue treatment at the Manhattan hospital, but the priest still wanted to be of service. So he offered to help in the diocese of Brooklyn.
“I feel I’m doing more for the glory of God than the salvation of souls out here,” said Father O’Shea.
Although his prognosis looks grim, he says his faith has never wavered and he will be strong all the way up to the end, because Father Morty knows he has his family.
“We will never leave his side,” said Jack O’Shea.
and God on his side.
“I often quote the last words of John Paul the second, which were, ‘I will go to my father’s house, you know my circle is finished and I will go back to my father,” said Father O’Shea.
For now, Father Morty has started a new chemotherapy treatment and will continue to serve as much as he can. The rest, he says, he’s leaving to the lord.