Column: Bishop Robert Brennan and the meaning behind his motto, 'Thy will be done'

Generally, a bishop chooses a motto when he is ordained a bishop. Arriving in Columbus nearly three years ago, I took the opportunity to explain the choice I had made some seven years before.

Both my grandfathers lived fairly short lives. My father’s father died two years before I was born, and my mother’s father when I was not quite 4. One family ritual was to visit the cemeteries – one up in Valhalla, New York, and the other just up the road from where we eventually lived on Long Island. On one of the gravestones were the words “Thy will be done.” Etched in stone, these words became etched in my mind.

This has to have been my first encounter with sacred scripture.

So years later, when I was to choose a motto, I went right to the words “Thy will be done.” I told my father that my choice indicated that those words meant a lot to my grandfather.

Both my grandfathers had tough lives. My father’s father came from generations of Irish coal miners in Pennsylvania. His family moved to New York, and he worked in a commercial laundry, breathing in all kinds of fumes. After making his way through the Depression, losing a brother in World War II, as well as other family members at young ages, and raising a family through that same war, he suffered a long and painful illness and death.

My father told me that his father kept a card with that prayer. It was important to him. In fact, the card presented the scene from the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the location near Jerusalem where Jesus was the night before his crucifixion – not my will but thine. In the end, “Thy will be done.”

My mother’s father was barely through his teens when he came from Ireland on a terrible trip, thinking he would never go back to his family. Doing what he could to build a life, he eventually became a train man on the New York City subway system, he, too, suffering and dying at a relatively young age.

Neither sought to make their lives better but to provide opportunity for their children and us, their grandchildren.

So there I was, 50 years old, about to be ordained a bishop in Rockville Centre, New York, and my grandfathers were teaching me from the grave and from eternity. You never stop learning.

They taught me a deep and abiding faith. Thy will be done, thy kingdom come. Easy words to say, but can you imagine the fortitude it takes to pray those words when life is tough?

Christians profess that God has given us insights to his will through the sacred scriptures, through the law and the prophets. Moreover, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life" (John 3:16).

In the end, God wills to be part of our lives. He wants not to be a mere bystander or overseer but rather to be fully engaged in every part of our lives. We proclaim Jesus, risen from the dead and fully alive, living among us. He continues to offer us the hand of friendship and to carry our burdens with us. He asks us to see the world at its deeper levels and to follow in his path. This is a bold claim for sure. It is the essence of our Catholic Christian faith.

My grandfathers handed on a priceless legacy of faith, hope, and love, and my parents in turn passed that legacy on to us. They shared the encounter with Jesus Christ which gives us confidence as we navigate the perils and stresses of day-to-day life.

Here in Columbus we, too, are heirs to a wonderful legacy of faith. I think of some of the early missionaries who travelled through central Ohio to offer the sacraments of the church, the encounter with Jesus Christ. I think of the religious communities who founded excellent institutions of education, healthcare and social service, many of which continue today under the leadership of capable boards, administrators and staff. I think of generations of people who built up parish life. We stand on the shoulders of people who built all this up for us.

The faith they handed on to us is not a museum piece but a living encounter with the crucified and risen Lord. We realize now the great responsibility handed on to us today to nurture this faith and transmit it to future generations. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is as relevant as ever – perhaps more. The challenge for the church today is to recognize the needs of the present and future ages and respond with the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus.

It has been my great honor to be part of and humbly to serve this great diocese of Columbus. In the three years that I have been here, I have noted repeatedly the depth of faith that is lived and practiced. It is amazing to see the great work of so many people, modern day missionaries who work so hard, with great commitment and bold enthusiasm, sharing the good news that has been shared with them.

I shall miss Columbus very much. I will always thank God for the all the amazing people I have come to know here in the time that I had, short as it was. Humbly, I ask your prayers even as I promise you mine.

The Most Rev. Robert Brennan is the apostolic administrator and former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus. He will soon begin serving as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Keeping the Faith is a column featuring the perspectives of a variety of faith leaders from the Columbus area.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bishop Robert Brennan: The importance of living faith, scripture