He noted that as an Oratorian, the community allows individuals to be who God created them to be. Quoting Galatians, where St. Paul wrote that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free (5:1), Father O’Connor said, “This describes what it means to be an Oratorian.”

“That means taking them for who they are and where they are on their faith journey,” the newly ordained priest explained. “Allowing them to grow and flourish by using their gifts and talents, while at the same time understanding that no one is perfect and we are all works in progress. It is the freedom and grounding in the community (both the Oratory and York County) that brings joy to my ministry, and out of that joy I am better able to serve the people of God in York County.”

Members of the Oratory serve at St. Anne and St. Mary parishes in Rock Hill, All Saints in Lake Wylie, St. Joseph in Chester, Divine Saviour in York, St. Philip Neri, and chaplain duties at Winthrop University.

“Why I became an Oratorian is best summed up by St. John Henry Newman who wrote: ‘As Christians we have given ourselves to Christ; to make this more sure and definite. We have, as Oratorians, given ourselves to St. Philip — we are not our own property, but his, and we must please, not ourselves, but him.’ My hope is that, like St. Philip Neri, I can be a joyful witness to the Gospel,” he stated.

Father O’Connor added that he looks forward to “all of it” now that he is ordained.

“My hope is that I can be a joyful witness to all by sharing God’s love in the offering of the sacrifice of the Mass and in my preaching. Also, [what] I am really looking forward to is being a channel of God’s love, mercy and healing to the people in the sacrament of reconciliation and the anointing of the sick,” he said.