Vespers serves as beginning of Bishop Beckman’s East Tennessee mission
By Bill Brewer
Bishop Mark Beckman’s first homily at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus since his appointment was announced on May 7 was a message of gratitude to the congregation for saying “Yes” to God.
Diocese of Knoxville faithful were treated to an early introduction to Bishop James Mark Beckman and several of the bishops attending his Mass of ordination and installation during solemn Vespers at the cathedral on the eve of his ordination.
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, center left, and Bishop-elect Mark Beckman, center right, stand in the sanctuary with visiting bishops as they lead solemn Vespers on July 25 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. (Photo Bill Brewer)
In addition to evening prayer, the solemn Vespers served as an official testament to the bishop-elect’s imminent elevation as he formally made his Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, attesting in writing to his fidelity to the new office.
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre served as the principal celebrant of the July 25 Vespers service on the feast of St. James the Apostle. Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. delivered the reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians.
Also taking part in the Vespers—in addition to Bishop-elect Beckman, Archbishop Fabre of the Archdiocese of Louisville, and Bishop Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo.—were Bishop Michael T. Martin, OFM Conv, of the Diocese of Charlotte, N.C.; Bishop Joel Konzen, SM, auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Atlanta; Bishop William F. Medley of the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky.; Bishop Steven J. Raica of the Diocese of Birmingham, Ala.; Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Baker of the Diocese of Birmingham; Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville; Abbot Cletus D. Meagher, OSB, of St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Ala.; Bishop John E. Stowe, OFM Conv, of the Diocese of Lexington, Ky.; Bishop Michael G. Duca of the Diocese of Baton, Rouge, La.; and Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of the Diocese of Tucson, Ariz.
In addition to their singing the evening hymn, members of the congregation took part in singing the Psalms, with each side of the cathedral alternating in singing the three antiphons: Thanksgiving in the Temple, Joyful Hope in God, and God our Savior. The cathedral’s Glenn Kahler and Byong-Suk Moon led the music liturgy.
Bishop Johnston gave the reading, Ephesians 4:11-13, which said, “Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers roles of service for the faithful to build up the body of Christ, until we become one in faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, and form that Perfect Man, who is Christ come to full stature.”
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, standing left, witnesses Bishop-elect Mark Beckman sign the Oath of Fidelity at the altar signifying his fidelity to the Church during solemn Vespers on July 25. Deacon Sean Smith, Diocese of Knoxville chancellor, observes at right. Bishops sign the oath attesting that they will faithfully carry out their duties and maintain the deposit of faith. (Photo Bill Brewer)
In his homily, Bishop-elect Beckman said he could not think of a better feast on which to celebrate solemn Vespers than that of St. James the Apostle.
He then shared a pivotal moment in his journey of faith that served as a revelation for his ministry.
“I think about the call that came to him [St. James] as he stood on the seashore. I wonder was he prepared for that day when the Lord said to him, ‘Come follow me,’ or was it that the Lord gave him that grace in the moment. All of us are part of the great body of Christ that the bishops of the Church are called to build up so that we may be prepared to come to full stature in Christ. What a gift,” Bishop- elect Beckman said.
He related to the congregation that several years ago he watched the film “The Way” with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez. It’s the story of a man who walks for his son, who has died, along the great, ancient pathway to the believed tomb of St. James the Apostle.
“And when I saw the film that evening—I was seated near the back of the theater as I remember—I had this unusual feeling that came over me. I felt in that moment as if God were saying to me, ‘I’m calling you to walk this Camino.’ The other part of me, the more rational part, thought, ‘What?’ I thought when will I have enough time to do that? And who will go with me? I won’t go alone. So, I put it out of my mind.
“But a couple of years later, good friends in the parish said to me, ‘Would you walk the Camino with us?’ I said, ‘Well, if the bishop gives me permission, I will walk with you. But I will go not as your chaplain but as a pilgrim with you.’ And so, 10 years ago I found myself on that 500-mile walk across northern Spain to the great cathedral in Santiago. I have to tell you, it was a powerful, transformative walk for me,” the bishop-elect recalled.
To start his faith-based trek, he and his friends began at St. Jean Pied de Port in southern France at the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. He recalled going to the Our Lady at the Foot of the Bridge church, where he lit a candle at the statue of Mary and asked her intercession on the journey ahead.
“I also asked the intercession of St. James the Apostle and many other saints, some of whom I’ve known personally. As the great journey began, I had no idea what would await me. Along the way, one of the most profound things was meeting people of every walk of life, of every religion, and some of no religion at all, who were all walking on this grand journey together. I met them over and over again,” he shared.
Two people in particular made a lasting impact on him, and he may have reciprocated.
“I will never forget a young German couple. They were afraid when they found out I was a priest, and they kind of began to avoid me. I found out they had never experienced church before. They had grown up apart from organized religion, and they were afraid. One moment along the way they said, ‘We have a question for you. If we die and you are right and we are wrong, do you think that your God will send us to your hell?’ I said to them, ‘I believe that at the moment you breathe your last, you will discover the source of all the goodness, the beauty, and truth, and love you have known in this life,’” Bishop-elect Beckman remembered.
Those words apparently made an impression. Bishop-elect Beckman told the Vespers congregation that the couple continued the journey, and they began to join his group in prayer.
When he and his Camino companions arrived weeks later at the Cathedral of Santiago, he said people from everywhere they had met along the path were gathered in the cathedral church. Many Camino travelers crowded into the church.
“I saw their faces, and I knew that all of them had responded in some way to a call from God. Some were very explicitly aware of it, as I was, and some not yet aware that the Lord had invited them on a great journey,” he recalled.
“I thought to myself, this is a foretaste of the kingdom of God. All of God’s people, drawn by God’s love, to experience a transformative journey. Over these past 10 years, as I’ve walked the journey beyond the Camino, I have now become more and more aware that the entire journey of life is a Camino. We’re all on a path,” the bishop revealed. “All of you, in some way or another or you wouldn’t be here this evening, have said yes to the Lord over and over again in your lives. Thank you for your yeses to God’s call,” he continued.
Priests in the Diocese of Knoxville take part in solemn Vespers on the eve of Bishop-elect Mark Beckman’s Mass of ordination and installation. Hundreds of East Tennessee parishioners also took part in the Vespers service at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on July 25. (Photo Bill Brewer)
Bishop-elect Beckman singled out Archbishop Fabre, telling the metropolitan that he is grateful to Archbishop Fabre. The bishop-elect then let the congregation know that he and the archbishop were in seminary together in Belgium.
“He has been a good shepherd for many years. He said yes to going to the Archdiocese of Louisville as our metropolitan archbishop, and I enjoyed being there when you were installed as the archbishop. A gift to me. Your yes to that and to being the administrator of this Diocese of Knoxville. What a gift. He’s done a great job, hasn’t he?” Bishop-elect Beckman asked those in attendance.
Archbishop Fabre then received a rousing ovation following the question.
Bishop-elect Beckman then turned his attention to Bishop Spalding, another classmate at the seminary in Louvain, Belgium, the American College at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
“You are a great gift to me personally. And his love and support for me in these days of preparation have been great. The joy I felt when you walked into our cathedral church, arriving for the first time, brought joy and gladness to my heart. Thank you for being a great bishop and shepherd,” the new shepherd of the Church in East Tennessee told his counterpart.
“To all the other bishops here tonight, thank you for your yeses to the Lord and your service to God’s people. I see another Louvain connection, Bishop Weisenburger. Our abbots, you lead religious communities. My brother priests, the good work that you do for God’s people. Thank you. You are a gift to the people of God. You are equipping them. You are building up the body of Christ. Our deacons and their wives, I’ve been so blessed as a pastor through all the years of my priesthood to work with many good deacons. And I can see that there are many great deacons here in the Diocese of Knoxville already, hard at work in all kinds of ministries. And our religious, what a gift you are to our Church,” Bishop-elect Beckman continued.
Bishop-elect Mark Beckman’s family, including his mother and father, brothers, and sisters, watch their son and brother lead solemn Vespers the evening before he was being ordained and installed as the next shepherd of the Church in East Tennessee. (Photo Bill Brewer)
He then singled out his family from Lawrenceburg, Tenn., sitting in the front pews, including his mother and father—“the gift of faith that you all gave me”—and his brothers and sisters.
He said during his Camino journey, his grandmother came to him in a dream. He woke and thought that she, too, is a saint walking on the journey of life.
He thanked those living the single life in faithful devotion to the Lord. “Every single one of you has said yes to the Lord. Keep saying yes.”
He then began looking ahead to his ministry in East Tennessee.
“The Lord has called me now on this new beginning, on this great, new Camino. And I am grateful to be with you here in the Diocese of Knoxville. You all have been praying for me. I have felt those prayers. Thank you. I have been praying for you.
“So, we are looking forward to the great kingdom of God, aren’t we? We are looking forward to the light that never fades. We are looking forward to the fullness of God’s love. And that is what St. James the Apostle knew. In his final moments of life, he had waited for the eternity that God had prepared for him.
Bishops watch and listen closely as Bishop-elect Mark Beckman, the fourth bishop of Knoxville, gives his homily during solemn Vespers. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“We all have a job to do. All the people of East Tennessee need us. And for those who live beyond East Tennessee, they need you, too. Let us all be mindful that we are pilgrims together on our way. Let us continue to say yes to the Lord,” he said.
Bishop-elect Beckman then stated and signed the Oath of Fidelity at the altar. He made his Profession of Faith in addition to the Oath of Fidelity, witnessed by the bishops, his family, and the congregation.
Archbishop Fabre then led the intercessions, the Our Father, and the concluding prayer.
Less than 24 hours later, Bishop-elect Beckman said yes again at his ordination and installation and assumed the new ministry that Pope Francis has assigned him. He was handed a miter, a crosier, and his episcopal ring, and again he took up the cross.
The solemn Vespers served as both an important liturgical event and an opportunity for people in the Diocese of Knoxville to see and hear their new bishop.
According to the Rite of Ordination, it is the duty of all the faithful to pray for the one to be elected their bishop and for the bishop once elected. “This duty should be fulfilled especially in the Universal Prayer (Prayer of the Faithful) at Mass and in the intercessions at Vespers (Evening Prayer).
Evening Prayer has a long and important history in the Catholic Church. And according to the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, when evening approaches and the day is already far spent, evening prayer is celebrated in order that “we may give thanks for what has been given us, or what we have done well, during the day.”
