VolCatholic students at St. John XXIII Parish engage bishop in some questions and answers
By Gabrielle Nolan
Bishop Mark Beckman visited the University of Tennessee’s Catholic student center at St. John XXIII University Parish for the first time on Aug. 28, gathering with the students and Paulist Fathers for an evening of Q&A.
The bishop thanked the Paulists for their 50 years of ministry, noting they have been a gift to the university and to the students.
The Paulist Fathers in attendance for the evening were Father Larry Rice, pastor of St. John XXIII; Father Rich Whitney, associate pastor; and Father Bob O‘Donnell, priest in residence.
The bishop spoke to the nearly 60 students for 45 minutes, answering a variety of questions such as what his favorite part of being Knoxville’s bishop is; who is his favorite saint; how did he know he was being called to the priesthood; what was his favorite part of walking the Camino de Santiago; what encouragement would he give to someone who is the only Catholic in their family; and many more.
“Your presence in the Church matters, and your presence on this campus matters,” Bishop Beckman said. “You wouldn’t be here tonight if God didn’t want you here for some reason. You have all responded gracefully to God’s call to be part of the UT student center. Stay active, stay engaged, always stay close to the Lord no matter what, through the good times and the bad times; don’t give up.”
Bishop Mark Beckman, wearing a Big Orange zucchetto, enjoys a moment with a University of Tennessee student at St. John XXIII Catholic Center on the UT-Knoxville campus. Bishop Beckman visited the Catholic student center on Aug. 28, where the Paulist Fathers and UT-K students presented him with the Vol headcover fit for a bishop. (Photo Gabrielle Nolan)
Bishop Beckman said that he was “delighted” at the turnout for the evening.
“Lots of students and they asked wonderful questions, and they were so interested. I mean they sustained interest for a rather lengthy period of time of asking questions. Very good questions, thoughtful questions. I love the energy of the young people and their enthusiasm,” the bishop commented.
Bishop Beckman attended the college seminary at St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa, for four years. He said he had “fantastic” teachers who challenged his thinking, and he also knew priests who were his role models on campus.
“I think finding good mentors and good professors that you can talk to when you’re going through the inevitable crises of young adulthood and college is very important,” he said.
Bishop Beckman acknowledged the importance of a Catholic center on a secular campus.
“A Catholic student center on a secular university campus makes me very much think of Jesus saying, ‘You’re the salt of the earth, you’re the light of the world. Let your light shine so that others can see the good things you do and give praise to your Father in heaven.’ So, that’s the role of a good Christian, that’s the role of a good student center on a secular campus,” the bishop said.
Brother and sister Christian and Anna Ratterman grew up in the Nashville area and knew Bishop Beckman as their parish priest at St. Matthew in Franklin.
“He actually confirmed me,” said Anna, a sophomore at UT. “It was super great to see him again, and it’s really cool to see how much he’s progressed in his faith and just to see what this process has done for him spiritually.”
Anna said that the bishop’s talk inspired her to pursue imaginative prayer.
“I’d never really thought of prayer like that, and I think it would be super helpful and beneficial to put yourself in that setting; just to say if Jesus was really in front of me right now what would I be saying to him?” she remarked. “I just think that that was really something that I’m going to start doing in my own life, especially when life is hard and I don’t know what to do. … I can see him as a friend sitting in front of me instead of just like some entity that I’m talking to.”
Christian, a senior, said that “it was weird at first” to see his former pastor as a bishop.
Bishop Beckman is shown with, from left, St. John XXIII associate pastor Father Rich Whitney, CSP, St. John XXIII pastor Father Larry Rice, CSP, and Father Bob O‘Donnell, CSP, priest in residence. (Photo Gabrielle Nolan)
“I kept calling him Father Mark because that’s what I’m so used to saying,” he shared. “He was [at St. Matthew] until I was in sixth grade, and then he got moved to St. Henry, which was our rival middle school at the time. So, every time we would play them in football, our new pastor was also named Father Mark, so we would have the Father Mark Bowl in Nashville, and the schools would actually get a food truck or something, and all the kids would go out and watch the football game, and both Father Marks would get out on the field and pray. It was kind of a fun thing.”
Christian mentioned that years ago he was able to do spiritual direction with Bishop Beckman and was blessed to see his wisdom firsthand.
“He is so meticulous with his thought, and he really cares,” Christian said of the bishop. “Any-body who talks to him, he really cares for that person. … He talked about, too, what inspired him to be a priest was seeing a priest connect with people. I think this is going to be his way of elevating that and getting to do that with so many more people, and it’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be a lot of fun for him, and it’s a lot of fun for me as somebody who’s kind of grown up with him to see him get to have that in his life because he’s so deserving of it.”
Kathryn Mesplace, a sophomore and vice president of the VolCatholic women’s group, was also present for the Q&A.
“He was amazing,” she said. “I’m so happy we got the gift to hear him today, and he answered so many hard questions. I whispered over to my friend, ‘He is in a job interview right now.’ But he answered them so well, and he gave so much good advice to the students on campus here that I think a lot of us will take that advice for a long time and help us grow in our faith and to evangelize here on campus and throughout the world.”
One answer the bishop gave that resonated with Kathryn was that when he is enduring a hard time, the bishop prays more often.
“I think it’s easy as college students, when you get busy, to kind of put your faith on the back burner. So, just to increase prayer, like during midterms and stuff like that, he gave really good advice,” she said. “Even though … he’s older than us, he related to us really well. I think a lot of students here are going to take specifically that, and he also talked a lot about finding peace and just the places you can find it; I think that was really good.”
Father Whitney shared that the bishop’s visit showed that the Catholic Church’s hierarchy con-sists of people who “care and want to help guide all of us in the direction of lifelong holiness.”
“I saw that most clearly in the sheer number of times that Bishop Beckman greeted students by name and asked about parents; he knows them from previous parishes, in some cases their whole lives,” Father Whitney continued. “And not just for the students, because when he took the time to simply chat with us priests who staff St. John XXIII, we could feel his interest and curiosity. Our faith is so relational, and Bishop Beckman modeled that for our whole community.”
St. John XXIII has been a home to UT’s Catholic college students since 1969, and the Paulist Fathers have been serving the campus community since 1973.
For more information, visit john23rd.org.
