Diocese of Knoxville’s 4th shepherd receives many heartfelt well-wishes
By Jim Wogan
The parish community of St. Henry in Nashville gave its soon-to-be-a-bishop pastor an emotional and heartfelt farewell on June 30 at two Masses and receptions to honor his nine years of dutiful leadership there.
“As I was walking up the aisle this morning, my memory of my first Mass at St. Henry came back, not when I was pastor, but when I was a high-school student. I came up to Nashville for the ordination of a priest when we were in the old church, back in the 1970s,” then-Father Mark Beckman said as he opened the 9 a.m. Mass that day.
“I thought, wow, that has been a while ago, but these nine years have flown by very quickly for me as your pastor. I am deeply grateful for every one of you. The word Eucharist means thanksgiving, so today we gather to give praise and thanks to God for the gift of His Son,” the bishop-to-be added.
Bishop-elect Mark Beckman, with Monsignor Mike Johnston, right, former pastor of St. Henry Parish, and Deacon Mike Catalano, gives the Eucharistic Prayer during his final Mass on June 30 as pastor of St. Henry in Nashville. Monsignor Johnston served as principal of Knoxville Catholic High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s. (Photo Jim Wogan)
St. Henry is one of the largest parishes in the Diocese of Nashville, and the pews were filled for his final two Masses. Father Beckman celebrated with the assistance of Deacon Marty Deschenes at 9 a.m. and was assisted by Deacon Mike Catalano at 11 a.m. Monsignor Mike Johnston, the former pastor of St. Henry, concelebrated the 11 a.m. Mass and admitted to having mixed feelings.
“Tough, but it was beautiful. I loved what he had to say because you heard a lot of his ecclesiology in that homily,” Monsignor Johnston said. “I had a hard time at the very end. We are going to miss him. He’s just a good, good man, and he’s a very close friend.”
During his homilies, the future bishop told parishioners about a recent visit to St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana.
“When you are called to be a bishop … the Church asks you to do a five-day canonical retreat. I went to St. Meinrad Archabbey, and I was able to spend some time in prayer. There was a hallway that I walked up and down countless times. It had the most beautiful works of religious art, and one of them was a very large, giant, wall-sized painting, and all I could see on the painting were big feet and sandals,” Bishop-elect Beckman said.
“Long about my third day, or fourth, I had been praying with the Gospel … and I was walking down the hallway and I saw those big feet and I said, they’re in sandals … it’s probably the washing of the feet. I stopped and I turned toward the painting, and I started looking at it and I thought, where are the buckets and where are the towels and who is going to do the feet-washing? I looked a little closer and I saw (near) those feet one single hand reaching out to touch a garment. I looked at it and thought, that’s odd. I have been praying all (day) with a woman reaching out to touch the garment of Jesus. And suddenly I realized, oh, this is a painting of the Gospel I have been praying with … and that’s the first time I noticed it.
“Think about how often in life we’re absorbed by details around us, but we miss what’s most important. And the most important thing of all is the encounter with Jesus. Think of the woman for a moment. Years of suffering. Some of us carry burdens for many years in life, and she reached out and touched His clothing; that’s always struck me. But Jesus didn’t want her to be healed and walk away. He turned to look at her. He wanted to see her face. He wanted her to see His face. This is a moment of profound personal encounter, and she began to tell Jesus the whole truth—everything she’s experienced in her life. Probably the suffering she carried. But also, the moment of healing. And the Word of Jesus spoken to her is … ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. You can go in peace now.’ I love how He calls her a daughter.”
Bishop-elect Beckman receives the gifts during his final Mass as pastor. (Photo Jim Wogan)
“This place at St. Henry, sometimes as a pastor it is easy to get lost in the details, to walk past the big feet on the wall. Not noticing. But there have been so many moments in my life here when I have seen the face of Jesus in your faces,” he added.
His homilies continued, and the future bishop explained to his parishioners the reason he chose his episcopal motto, found in Scripture (Hebrews 13:8). Profoundly and spontaneously, he recited it by breaking into song …
“Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Yesterday, today, and forever.”
Then, he asked the entire parish to join him by singing again:
“Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Yesterday, today, and forever.”
Bishop-elect Beckman then explained why he chose those words that will be used to define his episcopacy.
“Powerful, and once I heard that in my heart—in my mind I said that will be my motto,” Bishop Beckman said. “So, as I go forth to Knoxville, you all are sending me, right? That’s what the word apostle means in Greek, to be sent. You are sending me to the Church of Knoxville, and there I will see the face of Jesus in those to whom the Lord will send me. Know that I will hold your faces forever in my heart and mind, and continue to remember to whom you belong, beloved daughters, beloved sons of God most high.”
Following both Masses, parishioners gathered to greet and take photos with the future Knoxville bishop.
“I am proud of Father Beckman. I always figured he’d be somebody’s bishop. I just wish it was bishop here in Nashville,” St. Henry parishioner John Farringer said with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. “He has meant a lot to me and my family and, of course, the parish.”
Scott and Regina Frasier traveled from St. Matthew Parish in Franklin to attend the St. Henry farewell.
“He is a leader. He is so pure,” Mr. Frasier said. “He is such a great selection for the (Knoxville) diocese. He is one of our favorite priests that we have ever known.”
Bishop-elect Beckman was pastor of St. Matthew from 2002-15.
“One thing that stands out with Father Beckman is when he presents something, he always presents it well,” Mrs. Frasier said. “He just has a way about him, when he is giving out information it is well-received.”
Fran Myers has been with Bishop-elect Beckman at both parishes.
Bishop-elect Beckman enjoys photo moments with St. Henry parishioners. (Photo Jim Wogan)
“It has been 22 years that he has been my pastor, 13 years at St. Matthew and nine here at St. Henry,” Mrs. Myers said. “He has been a member of my family; he’s been a great friend, a super pastor. He is the most spiritual, prayerful person I have ever met, and I am going to cry talking about it.”
And she did.
“We are going to miss him, but we know the Diocese of Knoxville needs him terribly, and we just send him with our blessing,” Mrs. Myers added.
Deacon Catalano, who served with Bishop-elect Beckman at the 11 a.m. Mass, his final Mass as pastor of St. Henry, reflected on the day.
“It is bittersweet, of course. But when he told us he had something to tell us and he said that Pope Francis had appointed him to be the bishop of Knoxville, I was not surprised,” Deacon Catalano said. “He is a good shepherd. Every Mass I sit right next to him, and we’re looking at that stained image of the Good Shepherd, and that is his model. I will miss him greatly.”
The 11 a.m. Mass and reception were attended by members of the Beckman family, including Bishop-elect Beckman’s parents, his sister, Melissa, and his brother, Ben.
“It was a perfect Mass to end on,” Ben Beckman said. “The last time I talked to him he was still really processing this whole transition. I know he’s very excited, and he loves being in the mountains, so there is no better place.”
Parishioners and supporters of Bishop-elect Mark Beckman presented the new bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville with two juniper trees to be planted on the St. Henry campus in his honor. (Photo Jim Wogan)
Claire Hale, director of administration at St. Henry, presented Bishop-elect Beckman with a special gift from the parish and St. Henry School, a chalice engraved with a depiction of the Last Supper and his episcopal motto, “Jesus Christ Yesterday Today and Forever.”
Additionally, two juniper trees will be planted on parish grounds in honor of their former pastor.
One of the highlights of the farewell reception was a performance by singer/songwriter Tony Winkler, who reworked John Denver’s classic hit, “Country Roads,” with lyrics personalized for Bishop-elect Beckman. The session turned into a sing-along and capped the special day in a uniquely Nashville way.
“The song was true, this will always be a home for me,” Bishop-elect Beckman remarked. “One of the blessings about being a priest is the further you go in life the more homes you get. That’s the blessing, to have an ever-growing family. So, you all come to the mountains. You will always have a special place in my heart. There is no place that I have been as a priest that I don’t still carry on the inside. Come to the mountains. I love you all; I will pray for you, and please pray for me.”
