Diocese of Nashville gives Bishop-elect Beckman a send-off from the heart with Mass at the cathedral

Diocese of Knoxville welcomes its 4th ‘bishop of the mountains’

By Gabrielle Nolan

The Diocese of Nashville gave a formal farewell to Bishop-elect James Mark Beckman—now the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville—with a special Mass on June 25 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville.

Bishop J. Mark Spalding celebrated the send-off Mass, while dozens of priests and deacons were also present to show their support for the Nashville priest who was assigned to five different parishes over the 34 years of his priesthood in the Middle Tennessee episcopate.

Bishop Spalding said he was “absolutely thrilled” when he learned of Bishop Beckman’s new episcopal appointment.

“I’ve known Father Mark Beckman all the way back to seminary, my first year in Louvain [Belgium],” Bishop Spalding said. “So, the American college in Louvain is where we studied together. I was in my first year, and he was in his fourth year of theology.”

“He is a good pastor, a good spiritual leader, and just the right priest to be appointed the bishop of Knoxville,” he said. “I can only say the brotherhood that exists among the bishops in Tennessee will be strong with him being the bishop of Knoxville.”

At the beginning of the Mass, Bishop Spalding addressed the bishop-elect.

“We come to celebrate Word and sacrament, the gift of Jesus given to us in this holy Eucharist, but in a special way, too, we send a fond farewell to Bishop-elect Beckman as he goes from here, the mother diocese of the state of Tennessee to one of her daughters, the Diocese of Knoxville,” he said. “And know we send you with our love and our prayer that your ministry that has been wonderful here, Mark, grows and prospers there. So, we come and we pray to God, asking that He send forth His Spirit that strengthens us on our ways.”

‘Bishop of the mountains’

Standing before a crowd of family members and former parishioners, the bishop-elect gave the homily.

“This evening as we gather in this cathedral church, I am reminded of the time 34 years ago this summer that I arrived in this church for my ordination as a priest. And I will never forget that liturgy and all the faithful who would gather that night. And the words of the Gospel today from Matthew, ‘Go make disciples, baptize, teach.’ Those words of the Lord were very much on my mind. I knew that the Lord had called me to be a priest, and it took me a long time to get that clarity. Some of you all know it took me about 12 years from the time I first thought about it as a junior in high school until that day back in 1990 that Bishop [James D.] Niedergeses ordained me,” Bishop-elect Beckman said.

He noted that there were a couple of moments from his ordination liturgy that have remained with him, such as being vested with a chasuble for the first time as a priest.

“And one of the most profound moments for me also was when my brother priests all laid hands on me after Bishop [James D.] Niedergeses and welcomed me to the presbyterate by embracing me in the sign of peace. Many of those brother priests who laid hands on me that evening have now gone to the Lord, now with Him in the kingdom, but there are some here,” he continued.

Bishop-elect Beckman asked his brother priests who laid hands on him to please stand.

“And many of the younger priests, one of the most beautiful moments was when I had the opportunity to lay hands on you after Bishop Spalding or Choby or Kmiec or Niedergeses and to welcome you to the presbyterate. So, tonight I am very conscious that I am part of this body of brother priests, from which the Lord called me to go do something new now,” he said.

Though he had several years to discern becoming a priest, Bishop-elect Beckman said the turnaround was much quicker for accepting the call to become a bishop.

“Twelve years it took me to decide, to have clarity, that God was calling me to the priesthood. I had about six hours to think about becoming a bishop when I got the telephone call,” he said to a laughing crowd. “But the part of the Gospel—all the other parts of it that we heard tonight—have been with me throughout my priesthood, but the part of the Gospel that has deepened over time has been the last thing the Lord said: ‘I am with you always.’ And the Lord has been with me always, and the Lord has showed up looking a lot like all of you tonight. Those sacred moments of the great journey of the human life, as a priest that we’re privileged to journey with you on, are the most sacred moments when I become aware that, Lord, you are right here in this encounter between this person and me, you’re right here with us, Lord.”

Bishop-elect Beckman said he was thinking about all the different communities that the Lord has sent him to, and he asked the members of the congregation to stand if they were ever affiliated with his past assignments at St. Stephen, Holy Rosary, Father Ryan High School, SEARCH, St. Michael and Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Matthew, and St. Henry.

“All of you, and so many more people who are not here tonight, who I’ve been privileged to walk with, have revealed to me the face of the Risen Lord, Jesus” he said. “I am with you always. The Lord’s promise is fulfilled over and over again.”

Bishop-elect Beckman shared that he was thinking about the moment in the future when he will be at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville.

“I grew up in Sacred Heart Parish in Lawrenceburg. That’s where the great gift of faith was handed on to me from my parents and grandparents, and my family, and the priests and, indeed, even Bishop Niedergeses’ roots there,” he said, inviting his family in attendance to stand to represent his home parish.

Bishop-elect Beckman expressed gratitude for Bishop Spalding, who advised him to go home to his parents following the April call he received informing him that he had been named bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville.

“He has been a true shepherd for me in these weeks of transition. His kindness, his calls, his messages, his very practical wisdom every step of the way,” Bishop-elect Beckman shared.

Upon returning to Lawrenceburg to visit his parents, Bishop-elect Beckman also went to the cemetery to visit the graves of his grandparents and Bishop Niedergeses.

“We went into Sacred Heart Church, and I knelt and prayed,” he said. “So, the great gift of that beginning of faith for me handed on by many people who love the Lord, I believe, is what the Lord is asking me to do in Knoxville. And I’ll tell you, some of you have already heard me tell the story. When I first got the call, I was terrified and actually inclined to say no. I told my spiritual director, ‘I think I’m going to say no.’ But I received enough peace from the Lord, and as I drove to Knoxville and I saw faces—there were people waiting to greet me—then the peace of the Lord began to settle upon me.”

At the end of his homily, Bishop-elect Beckman spoke about how hands would be laid on him again at his episcopal ordination on July 26.

“That moment in time, as they lay hands on me, and as I prepare to say yes to a deeper call from the Lord to be an apostle, are a profound reminder of the Lord saying to me, ‘Go make disciples.’ But I will remember that the Risen Lord, who has always been with me, and every one of you will also be with me in Knoxville,” he said. “So, let’s pray for each other. Let’s pray for all the good work that all of you are doing here in this, my home diocese. This will always be home to me. And I look forward to many journeys back to Middle Tennessee. And I am looking forward to the call that the Lord has entrusted to me. I’ll just close by saying, one of the children in our school said to me, ‘Are you going to be the bishop of the mountains?’ And I thought about it a moment and I said, ‘Yes, I’m going to be the bishop of the mountains.’”

Before the Mass concluded, Bishop Spalding shared that Bishop-elect Beckman requested to use the crosier of Bishop Niedergeses, which the Nashville diocese has possession of.

“And so, Mark, in front of God and everybody in the Diocese of Nashville, I want to say this: it’s on loan,” he said, causing the crowd to erupt in laughter. “As long as you need it, it’s yours. But we get it back, OK. And I think, Mark, you told me that it was made from wood from Lawrence County. So, a lot of connections there. Diocese of Knoxville, you’re getting a wonderful priest and bishop.”

‘A pastor for God’s people’

Following the Mass was a reception in the cathedral’s Fleming Center, where guests enjoyed food, drinks, and a receiving line with Bishop-elect Beckman.

Jon and Laura Sowa, along with their daughter, Samantha, were among the numerous families who waited in line to congratulate and take pictures with the bishop-elect.

The Sowa family attends St. Matthew Parish in Franklin, where the bishop-elect served as pastor from 2002-15.

“He made you want to be a better Catholic,” Mrs. Sowa said. “He made us want to come to church. It was the first time we looked forward to really going, we wanted to hear what came out of his mouth. Well, I personally wanted to hear what came out of his mouth. It was almost like he had been in my week with me, and he said exactly what I needed to hear. He just made us want to be more active in our parish. And he always treated you like a friend. Every time he’d see you it felt like you were one of his best friends.”

“His sermons are phenomenal,” Mr. Sowa shared. “He has this calmness about him that just brings the Holy Spirit into the entire Mass and around him in general.”

Mr. Sowa added that the “younger generation is going to absolutely love him.”

“I think people are naturally drawn to him for his character,” he said.

“I also want to add, as a college student, knowing the people at UT, the college students, I think they’re getting a really amazing person, and it’s exciting to see what he will do over there,” Samantha said. “I think he’ll really drum up a good Catholic population over there and encourage the UT college kids to be more involved, especially in the diocese and in their faith life and parishes.”

Kevin and Michelle Barber, parishioners at St. Matthew Parish, have known Bishop-elect Beckman for almost 20 years.

“Knoxville’s gain is certainly our loss, but it’s nice to know he’s just down the road a piece,” Mrs. Barber said. “We certainly loved having him at St. Matthew, and he helped us as parishioners and all our children were at St. Matthew School. He supported our schoolchildren so beautifully. The SEARCH program in the diocese, all of our kids have taken advantage of that program, and that was also wonderful.”

Mrs. Barber shared that her husband was sick for a time while the bishop-elect was at St. Matthew.

“He came and visited me when I was in the hospital some time back, but we’ve known him for quite some time and he’s truly a blessing,” Mr. Barber shared. “So, the Diocese of Knoxville is getting a blessed man. He’s kindhearted; he’s really in tune with the people; he’s going to work hard to get to know everybody and understand what the needs of the diocese are; and he’s just going to be a good shepherd. He’s very calming, and he’s just wonderful. His great spirit, good sense of humor, and so it’s going to be a great transition. We’ve got two kids in college at the University of Tennessee, so we’re all very excited that he’s going to be there as well for our kids, and obviously they were younger kids when he was the pastor at St. Matthew. They’re getting a good one, we’re very happy for them.”

Father Joe McMahon and Father Andrew Bulso, two friends of the bishop-elect from the priesthood, were present for the Mass.

Father McMahon first met him in the late 1980s when the bishop-to-be was a deacon at St. Stephen Parish in Old Hickory and Father McMahon was the associate pastor. Since that time, the two clergy members have developed a close friendship.

“I think we’re close friends and close priest friends, and in a sense, really, spiritual friends,” Father McMahon said. “What we love to do is we vacation well together. One of our favorite things to do is explore the national parks and hiking. That’s been an incredible gift to spend time in God’s cathedral together.”

The two priests strive for an annual trip, and together they have visited Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, Crater Lake, and the Great Smoky Mountains national parks. They have also traveled to Banff, Canada.

“It’s incredible what we’ve been able to see together,” Father McMahon said.

He shared that Bishop-elect Beckman is a great friend and also deeply spiritual.

“He also has a gentle spirit and at the same time an inner strength,” Father McMahon said. “He’s just a faithful priest, and he will be a faithful bishop, too. And he really adheres to the vision of servant priesthood, and he will be a servant bishop, as well. He’ll be a leader, he’ll be a servant-leader bishop. I just have the highest regard for Mark, and I’m really grateful for our friendship and shared brotherhood in the priesthood.”

Father Bulso was in high school when he first met the bishop-elect 20 years ago.

“He was chaplain of the youth office for the diocese at that time,” Father Bulso said. “I made a retreat as a high-school junior, and he was the chaplain for that retreat, so that was my first time meeting him. And then, you know, sort of interacted with him through some youth office things over those years, and then when I really got to know him a lot better was when I was assigned to be an associate pastor at St. Henry. That was in 2017. So, that’s when we really got to know each other a lot better.”

He shared that their friendship is really a natural one because of similar interests, such as hiking and watching movies.

“When I was there as an associate pastor, we would often share dinner together and watch a TV show; we went through several series together in my three years there. And we’ve continued that since I left and became a pastor. We would meet up every once in a while and have dinner and watch a TV show or movie or something. I will miss that accessibility, being able to get together regularly for just some good fraternity, priestly fraternity,” Father Bulso said.

Another example of that priestly fraternity included dressing up for Halloween each year for St. Henry School, noted Father Bulso, who is pastor of St. Edward Parish in Nashville.

“We would dress up in costume and go over to the school and just surprise the kids and interact with them. We were Jedi Knights one year, we were cowboys one year, we were pirates one year. But I think that demonstrates a number of things. First of all, his love for the students and the school, but also his sense of humor and wanting to be a fun presence in the lives of not only the students but the parishioners and teachers as well. You kind of see how personable a person he is and easy to connect with,” he said.

“He was just a wonderful pastor to work with, very kind, always very attentive, and would listen with an open ear,” Father Bulso said. “So, I really appreciated my time with him as my pastor and me being his associate pastor. I learned a lot about being a pastor of a parish and being a shepherd of a flock in a parish, and he’s continued to be a good confidante as I became a pastor myself back in 2020. So, I’ve called him multiple times to get advice on things.”

At the end of the evening, Bishop-elect Beckman commented that the liturgy was “so beautiful.”

“It represented so many of the facets of my ministry through the years here in the diocese,” he said. “When I got out of my car in the parking lot, there was a couple from my first parish as pastor who just happened to be in the parking lot. I had not seen them in a few years. And so, seeing faces from throughout all the years of being a pastor for God’s people and seeing those connections was profoundly beautiful, and it also reminded me of the immense number of people that were not able to be here tonight—some have gone to the Lord now, but have also been part of my life. So very moving.”

As his time as a pastor in Nashville came to an end, the bishop-elect said that he was “so deeply grateful for all the blessings that I’ve received in these years as a priest, and also very humbly, deeply grateful to the Lord for calling me to be the shepherd of another people that need a shepherd.”

“When I saw the faces of the people in the Diocese of Knoxville who welcomed me when I went there for the first visit, I could tell there was genuine gratitude and love in their hearts that I was coming, and that made me really want to be a good shepherd. So, I’m excited. Looking forward to it,” he said.