Getting to know you

Bishop Beckman has visited nearly half of parishes and all 10 Catholic schools

By Bill Brewer, Dan McWilliams, and Gabrielle Nolan

The Cumberland County churches of St. Alphonsus and St. Francis of Assisi as well as St. Henry in Rogersville, St. Thomas the Apostle in Lenoir City, and the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga welcomed Bishop Mark Beckman in recent days as the shepherd of the Diocese of Knoxville continues his inaugural visits to East Tennessee parishes.

In addition, Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Townsend on Oct. 6, where he installed Father Antonio Giraldo as pastor.

Since his July 26 ordination and installation as the diocese’s fourth shepherd, Bishop Beckman has been celebrating Masses at churches and schools as he continues his “looking, listening, and learning” tour of the diocese.

As of Nov. 15, the bishop has been to nearly half of the churches in the Diocese of Knoxville and all 10 diocesan schools.

The windows of St. Alphonsus

St. Alphonsus parishioners and pastor Father Mark Schuster greeted the bishop warmly on Sept. 12, the one-year anniversary of the dedication of the new St. Alphonsus Church building.

They also were eager to show Bishop Beckman the new stained-glass windows that have been installed in the church since last year.

“It is so good to be with you here at St. Alphonsus one year after the dedication of this church. Glory to God. Those of you who are here are part of the living stones, which form the foundation of this beautiful church. We are blessed to be able to bless the beautiful stained-glass windows that depict the Way of the Cross of the Lord Jesus and lead us to our Lord,” Bishop Beckman said.

Bishop Beckman, in his homily, highlighted the Sept. 12 words from St. Luke’s Gospel.

“I have always thought the words of Jesus in the Gospel today were the most challenging words: love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for your persecutors. If someone strikes you on one cheek, then offer the other. That kind of love is hard to do,” he said.

He then shared that he remembers vividly the day when Luke 6:27-38 became so clear to him.

“It was two days after Sept. 11, 2001, when this Gospel appeared. The first reading that year had the same thing. I remember looking at the first reading and thinking, ‘I’m not going to preach that this year.’ And when I saw that Gospel, I realized the Lord was speaking directly to me. I realized that was the beginning of a call to a conversion to a deeper kind of love,” the bishop said.

Bishop Beckman said he recently read a beautiful reflection about that very Gospel. The reflection’s author pointed out that the love Jesus speaks about in the Gospel “is the very love He embodied as He went to the cross.”

“When His cheek was struck, He turned the other cheek. His cloak was taken from Him, and He did not hold on to it. To those who took from Him, He gave freely. He prayed for His persecutors, those who crucified Him. He loved His enemies,” Bishop Beckman said. “He embodied the fullness of God’s love and showed us the way. In the psalm today, ‘Lord, guide us along the everlasting way.’ The way is the way of Christ.”

He pointed out that the 23 new stained-glass windows beautifully show the Way of the Cross for Jesus. And he noted that all were healed fully by the love of God for everyone, an unconditional love.

“We are called to mirror that love. We are blessed here at St. Alphonsus to be surrounded by the great journey of love that Jesus walked. And we know that as soon as He gave himself to the

cross, that is not the end of the story. The resurrection of the Lord from the dead revealed a fullness of the effect of love in the face of evil,” the bishop continued.

He noted that everyone is invited to join Christ on that journey and that we are called in this world to establish a communion of love.

“You all here at St. Alphonsus are already doing that in a beautiful and wonderful way. What a joy it is to be here in this place,” Bishop Beckman said, adding that when he arrived, he went around the St. Alphonsus campus and marveled at what a lovely and cared-for site it is.

The bishop also complimented the congregation for its stewardship.

“I have heard from your pastor and others that you all have already paid for your church and the stained-glass windows. This is a community of good stewardship. I see how you all have cared for everything that has been entrusted to you. I also see the beautiful way you celebrated the liturgy together,” he said.

Bishop Beckman thanked Father Schuster for his pastoral ministry at St. Alphonsus.

“Given by the Lord, this community, thank you for saying yes to that call. These beautiful images that we bless depict the journey that all of us are called to walk, which is the journey of love,” the bishop concluded.

He then walked around the sanctuary and nave, sprinkling holy water on the colorful, ornate windows before celebrating the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Father Schuster concelebrated the Mass, with Deacon Hicks Armor and Deacon Peter Minneci assisting.

Father Schuster explained that much thought and care went into installing the new windows.

“It was always part of the plan to have stained-glass windows. We were praying and thinking about what windows to put in. That’s when we thought, well we have seven windows facing north and seven windows facing south. That’s 14, and there are 14 Stations of the Cross. St. Alphonsus wrote a beautiful meditation on the Stations of the Cross, so that’s when we decided to make them Stations of the Cross. Great idea,” the St. Alphonsus pastor said.

“We had other windows we needed to fill in, so one is St. Cecilia. And St. Cecilia is over by the choir, and it fits perfectly there, which is why we remember the Dominicans of St. Cecilia in Nashville and their ministry in our diocese and the presence they have,” Father Schuster said. “We also have St. Monica and St. Augustine, and we have great devotions to St. Monica and St. Augustine. We have St. Juan Diego because we have a large Hispanic community in our parish and in our diocese. On the tilma is Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is the mother of America. We incorporated all of that into the windows, and it works well.”

He noted that the windows, which combine traditional and modern styles, were created by Lynchburg Stained Glass in Lynchburg, Va.

“I love the windows. They are beautiful windows, and they are easy to pray and meditate with. We are very pleased. And they are paid for,” Father Schuster said.

He shared that the new church building was paid for before Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre dedicated it on Sept. 12, 2023.

“The people here have been saving for a long time. And when we had to raise extra funds, the people responded so generously. It’s gone perfectly, more perfect than I could have planned for,” the parish priest said. “It’s humbling to trust in the Holy Spirit, but God’s time, it turns out, is the perfect time. Because of His timing, everything worked out beautifully.”

Father Schuster was grateful to Bishop Beckman for celebrating the one-year anniversary of the new church and for blessing the new windows.

Sara Carey, who serves as assistant director of faith formation and religious education at St. Alphonsus, pointed out that parishioners have been raising funds for 20 years to build the church and saved about $2.5 million for the project. As construction was set to begin, the COVID-19 outbreak struck in 2020 and suspended construction.

For years, parishioners attended Mass in the original building that also served as a parish hall.

“The new church is so much nicer. You can come and you’re in a sacred space and a dedicated space. From a practical standpoint, it’s great because you can have gatherings, receptions, meetings in the parish hall, and you don’t have to rearrange the interior for Mass,” Ms. Carey said. “From a spiritual perspective, it’s nice to have a sacred space with sacred silence.”

Ms. Carey also noted that the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic is now serving Crossville regularly from the St. Alphonsus campus.

“This has been good for us, and it has been good for the clinic, too, because it’s easier for some people in Cumberland County to get to our location,” she said.

The Legacy Clinic also provides health care to people in the Crab Orchard community of Cumberland County.

St. Alphonsus also offers community services in Cumberland County to assist people in need.

The intercession of Servant of God Patrick Ryan

On Sept. 29, Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass in Chattanooga at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul and began by asking for prayers for all those who were affected by devastating flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

After the storm dumped record amounts of rain in the mountains of western North Carolina and East Tennessee, rivers and streams became raging torrents of water and spilled over their banks on Sept. 27.

“There are people in our own diocese who lost their lives in the Tri-Cities and Newport during the flooding. Let’s please keep our brothers and sisters in prayer today,” Bishop Beckman shared with the basilica congregation.

The bishop began his homily by remarking about the beauty of the basilica and relating a story.

“It is so good to be with you this morning at this basilica church. The day after it was announced that I would be the new bishop of Knoxville, your pastor, Father David Carter, greeted me warmly here at the basilica, showed me around your beautiful church, and we were able to venerate the remains of Father Patrick Ryan. It was a joy to be here on that very next day after becoming aware that the Lord would be sending me to this Church in Knoxville to be your pastor, your shepherd, to be, as Father Carter often says, an apostle, one who is sent,” Bishop Beckman said.

Bishop Beckman recalled a priest friend, in telling him he was going to become a successor of the Apostles, who asked the bishop if that made him nervous.

“I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Well, remember what the first 12 were like. That should give you some consolation,’ with all of their weaknesses and human frailties. That did give me consolation,” he told the congregation.

He pointed out that the Gospel of Mark, of all four Gospels, really does highlight the humanity of the Apostles, their limitations, their weaknesses, their failures, and their misunderstandings.

“I remember one of the seminary professors I had in liturgy made the observation that the disciples of Jesus have a remarkable dexterity for missing the point,” the bishop said. “And John, in today’s Gospel, makes that same mistake. ‘Jesus, we saw someone trying to free a person of a demon in your name. But he is not one of us, so we tried to stop him.’”

The bishop used that account from the Bible to show that Jesus recoiled from “us versus they” situations.

“Jesus uses this moment, as He does so often in the Gospel of Mark, to give a new horizon to the Apostles. ‘John, don’t try to stop them. Anyone who is doing something good in My name cannot at the same time speak ill of me.’ The heart of we human beings has for so long been limited. It’s such a human thing for us to connect with people we know and love well, people who think like us, and to separate the world from us and them. Why do we do that?

“I suspect part of that is fear. What if ‘they’ were in the same boat that I’m in? Do I get less? The remedy for that is trusting in the goodness of God, and the work of God in all persons and in creation,” Bishop Beckman said.

He noted that “simple actions of love,” such as giving someone a cup of water, reflect on the goodness of the Lord.

Bishop Beckman said those simple actions, such as those who responded by contributing to disaster relief following the Hurricane Helene floods, are so meaningful to those in need.

“There is no us or them. We are all part of one human family. And when one person anywhere in the whole world is suffering, we, as followers of Jesus, are invited to do good for them, even if it’s only a cup of water,” the bishop said. “Actions of genuine love, compassion, and solidarity. I believe Jesus is inviting our hearts to grow and to open. We, too, have a remarkable dexterity at times for missing the point. That’s one of the things I love about the Gospels. They are for us a continuous school of discipleship. We pay attention to them and listen to the words of Jesus and follow His example. He shows us how to live as God created us to live.”

Bishop Beckman then suggested that the congregation pray and ask for the intercession of the saints, as well as Servant of God Patrick Ryan, and the angels.

Father David Carter, rector of the basilica, concelebrated the Mass. Deacon Hicks Armor served as deacon of the altar, and Deacon Joe Roy served as deacon of the Word.

At the conclusion of Mass, Father Carter expressed the basilica community’s gratitude to Bishop Beckman for leading the Mass. The bishop shared with the parishioners that Chattanooga is very meaningful to him because he spent two summers while in seminary serving in St. Augustine and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishes and then served as a teacher at Notre Dame High School for one year.

“I am so glad to be back with you all in Chattanooga. It is a special joy. And I am so grateful for your priests who serve here at the basilica, Father David Carter, Father Michael Hendershott, Father Alex Hernandez, and Father Nick Tran,” the bishop said.

Celebrating St. Francis of Assisi

Bishop Beckman made his first visit to St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade on its patronal feast day on Oct. 4. Concelebrating the Mass was pastor Father Michael Woods. Father John Matejek, a priest retired from active ministry who lives in Fairfield Glade, also was in attendance. Deacon Hicks Armor served as deacon of the altar and master of ceremonies, and Deacon Gary Brinkworth served as deacon of the Word.

The bishop shared that one of his favorite books about the life of St. Francis of Assisi was called God’s Fool by Julian Green.

“It’s hard to find these days, but if you go online you can go to Amazon and find old copies of it,” he said. “It’s a translation from a French book—beautiful, poetically written, and it gives you something of the spirit of the person of St. Francis, this journey of transformation and the impact it had on the world of his century. In Italy in those days, there was a palpable feeling that Christ was present with them, in a new way, because of Francis.

“When we are close to Christ, and we let Him change our heart, it changes us. It makes us more like Christ so that we become Christ for the others in the world today. That’s the mystery of holiness: to be so intimately united to the person of Jesus that we become like Him, and He becomes present through us to others. And the world so needs that beautiful presence of Christ the Lord today.”

Bishop Beckman commented that St. Francis was the first person known to bear the stigmata, or wounds of Christ, on his body.

“I believe the reason that Francis received that particular grace was that he longed to be united with Jesus so intimately, to know everything about Christ, that he even longed to know what it was like to suffer as Christ had suffered for him on the cross,” he said.

The bishop continued by saying that St. Francis had the same desire to know the birth of Jesus. The saint began the first live Nativity scene, paving the way for the modern crèche scene.

“He, above the village on the mountaintop, had living people on a midnight Mass create that first living Nativity with real animals,” Bishop Beckman said. “And they said everyone walked up from the villages below with torches at night, and when they left the entire mountain was full of light as people went home from midnight Mass. That sense of being touched by the light of Christ and carrying that light to the world.

“Here, at St. Francis of Assisi, you all are invited by the Lord Himself. He’s saying to you, come to me, draw close to me, let me continue to change you so that when you go from this church out into the world the light of Christ is carried with you to every place that you go outside of this beautiful place. What a beautiful church you have, by the way, here. When I walked in this evening I thought, it is a place of beauty. And St. Francis would have appreciated that; he loved beauty, especially the beauty of God’s creation.”

The life of St. Francis has seemingly followed Bishop Beckman. When the bishop was in college in the 1980s, his college celebrated the 800th birthday of the saint. About 10 years ago, the bishop walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, which happened to be the 800th anniversary of when St. Francis himself trekked the Camino.

“I was literally walking in his footsteps, and we got to the oldest church along the way. It’s O Cebreiro; it’s on a mountaintop, a Franciscan church … and I walked into the church, and there on the left was a replica of the baptismal font of the church of Francis back in Assisi. Had the cross of San Damiano, a replica of it, as well,” he said.

“And I walked into that space, and I suddenly felt, palpably, the presence of St. Francis of Assisi. I thought, ‘You are walking this journey with me, Francis.’ And I walked over to the woman who was taking care of the church, and I said, ‘Did St. Francis come to this church?’ And she smiled and nodded, and she said, ‘Yes, we believe so. That is why today it is in the care of the Franciscans.’ And we ended up attending Mass that evening, beautiful Mass,” he added.

At the conclusion of his homily, Bishop Beckman encouraged the congregation to “be inspired once more by someone who heard the call of Jesus, come to me, and responded with such an open heart that the love of Jesus flowed through him to all creatures great and small.”

Before the Mass ended, Father Woods spoke a word of gratitude to the completely full church.

“Bishop, I just want you to know that my heart is overflowing right now … overflowing with gratitude for this congregation because I put out a word, please come and welcome,” the Irish priest said. “If you like, the father of the family saying you got to be there, and they did, and I’m filled with joy that they would respond as a community like this to you.”

Father Woods informed the bishop that his parishioners come from all over the United States.

“They want community when they come because they’re strangers. And one of the lovely things I really believe that they are doing in their senior years, we’re learning to become like what Jesus asked us to do, to become like children,” he said. “And we’re learning that all over again, not just because we’re growing old, but I think we’re beginning to catch the meaning of Jesus asking everyone to trust God as our Father, and they’re doing it here, I have to say, so beautifully. They’re learning the Scriptures; they’re reaching out to the community. Many of the great efforts in our community here began at St. Francis of Assisi long before I got here. But I really do believe that we are working very hard on being a family, supporting each other, encouraging each other, and being so grateful.”

Father Woods concluded by sharing that he had missed the office of the bishop over the past year.

“We’ve missed not having the bishop, and you’re connecting us again because we have a tendency to go off on our own and do our own thing,” he said. “But having you come among us again, drawing us into the universal Church is such a gift, and I’m so excited to be a part of it with the priests of the diocese, with the deacons, and with our congregation. So, welcome, and thank you for saying yes.”

A St. Henry connection

On Oct. 27, Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass in Rogersville at St. Henry Church, where parishioners offered a warm welcome and afterward prepared a covered-dish reception fit for, well, a bishop.

The well-attended Sunday morning Mass was concelebrated by Father Michael Cummins, pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport, who also is serving as parochial administrator of St. Henry. Deacon Steve Helmbrecht, who serves at St. Dominic, assisted at the Mass.

“Peace be with you. It is so good to be with you at St. Henry in Rogersville. Did you know I was pastor of St. Henry Church in Nashville, Tenn., when I got the call to become a bishop? So, I feel kind of a special bond and connection with this community of faith. It’s a joy to be here,” Bishop Beckman said.

Another connection Bishop Beckman shared with the Hawkins County congregation was that when he attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, preparing for the priesthood, his roommate his freshman year was a young man whose family was active in the Rogersville parish.

“Mark told me many things about growing up in Rogersville, and it’s the first time I’ve been here. It’s a joy to be with you,” the bishop said.

In his homily, Bishop Beckman related a story from shortly after his ordination to the priesthood when he was serving at a Nashville Catholic high school. During a team-building exercise he organized, students and then-Father Beckman, as their teacher, were blindfolded and put into a maze with instructions to find their way out.

He said he and the students were told to find their way out of the maze with no assistance except a rope and without taking off their blindfolds. They could ask for help if they needed it.

“By the time I got to the end of the rope, I could hear that some of my students had already gotten out. I said, ‘Am I out yet?’ And they said, ‘No.’ So, systematically I make my way to the other end of the rope, and one of the students says, ‘Do you need any help?’ And I say, ‘No, I’m going to find my way out.’ So, I continued all the way to the other end of the rope. I then thought that I have to be out by now. I turned and said, ‘Am I out yet?’ ‘No, you’re not out.’ By this time, more of my students had gotten out of the maze. I began to worry. Finally, as I’m moving along the rope, I turn to one of my students, I can hear her voice, and I said, ‘Can you give me some help, please?’ She came over and took me by the shoulder and led me off to the side, and she said, ‘You are out now.’ I then took the blindfold off.

“What we learned that day was the only way to get out of the maze was to ask for help. If you were not willing to ask for help, you would not get out. I remember those students asking me, ‘Do you need help?’ And I kept saying, ‘No, I don’t need help,’” the bishop recalled.

Bishop Beckman then referenced Bartimaeus, the blind beggar on the side of the road healed by Jesus as told in the Gospel of Mark. The bishop notes that many people must have indifferently passed Bartimaeus along the way. But it was Jesus who stopped and engaged the blind beggar.

“This day is different. He (Bartimaeus) hears that Jesus is coming by. And he begins to call out, ‘Jesus, son of David. Have mercy on me.’ He asks for help. And notice; some people try to tell him to be quiet. I think that is a reflection of the voices in our own hearts, that tell ourselves that we don’t need to ask for help, that we have to do it ourselves, it is up to us. And yet, Jesus hears him,” the bishop said.

As Jesus engaged Bartimaeus, the beggar jumped up, leaving his cloak behind.

“That cloak was one that probably had lots of pockets containing everything he owned. His willingness to leave his security behind and go to Jesus showed his willingness to receive the help the Lord was offering,” Bishop Beckman said.

“All of us in life at times need something to be healed by the Lord, don’t we? We need to be able to see more clearly. The invitation today is to accept the help the Lord wants to offer us. Indeed, to ask the Lord for what we need. I love the fact that Jesus asked Bartimaeus the question, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Bartimaeus could have said, ‘Could you give me a little money for food today?’ That’s what he did as a beggar on the side of the road. But no, he went to the core of his being. He knew what he most wanted. He wanted to see, and so he asked Jesus, ‘Lord, I want to see,’” Bishop Beckman noted.

That is when Jesus told Bartimaeus that the beggar’s faith had healed him, and immediately Bartimaeus sees Jesus face to face, “a beautiful personal encounter.”

Bishop Beckman explained that Bartimaeus then becomes a follower of Jesus and goes with the Lord to Jerusalem.

“All of us daily, in some ways, come to the Lord like Bartimaeus. Jesus is asking us today, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Perhaps we should take some time to let the deepest part of ourselves speak. ‘Lord, what do I need from you or want from you more than anything in life?’ Do we trust the Lord enough to simply ask Him for what we need?” the bishop continued.

Bishop Beckman assured the congregation that everyone, if they continue to draw close to Jesus, will experience healing.

Bishop Beckman then quoted from the song “Day by Day” from the musical “Godspell.” “Day by day. Three things I pray. To see you more clearly. To love you more dearly. And to follow you more nearly. Day by day.”

Following Mass, St. Henry parishioners Margaret Palko and Cathy Litton presented Bishop Beckman with a holy card the children of St. Henry made depicting the future saints as themselves in addition to a basket full of items the bishop would enjoy.

“This is a beautiful community of faith, a precious community of prayer. There is support and love for each other. You can feel it here. And the music ministry is so beautiful,” Bishop Beckman told the congregation.

The bishop then told Father Cummins that he was “deeply grateful” to the priest for shepherding St. Henry until a new pastor is named in addition to leading St. Dominic Parish.

“So many roles of ministry make a small community like this really beautiful. It’s the gift of yourselves that creates a great beauty in God’s presence,” the bishop concluded.

The congregation then joined Bishop Beckman in the parish hall for a dinner and fellowship.

St. Thomas the Apostle

The St. Thomas the Apostle Parish community in Lenoir City turned out in full for Bishop Mark Beckman’s first Mass there on Nov. 9.

The nave was packed for the bishop’s visit, including the area in the back that was once part of the narthex and now converted to worship space.

Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass with St. Thomas the Apostle pastor Father Julian Cardona and associate pastor Father Adam Royal concelebrating. Also concelebrating was Father Jhon Mario Garcia, an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Four deacons from St. Thomas the Apostle assisted at Mass. Deacon Jack Conrad was deacon of the Word, and Deacon Roberto Cortes was deacon of the altar. Also present were Deacon Norman Alexander and master of ceremonies Deacon David Egan.

Bishop Beckman’s trip to St. Thomas the Apostle concluded a whirlwind week that saw him visit multiple parishes as well as the diocese’s Christ Prince of Peace Retreat Center in Benton for two events Nov. 8-9.

“In the last few days, I’ve been to several different locations,” he said. “I went down to CPOP this week and did a retreat for the Chancery staff, and then this morning the deacon candidates were down there for their weekend of formation. I celebrated Mass with them at CPOP.”

The bishop enjoyed multiple aspects of his Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle.

“It was beautiful. The energy, the joy, the hospitality, the welcome, and the gift of the music were truly beautiful,” he said.

The bishop was at the Lenoir City church once before, on Oct. 30, after he became shepherd of the Church in East Tennessee this summer.

“I came up for the St. Mary’s Mobile Medical Clinic volunteer appreciation Mass and lunch. That was my first time to see the parish and the church and the setting. It’s so beautiful here,” he said.

Deacon Conrad estimated that some 500-600 people attended the Mass with the bishop at St. Thomas the Apostle and the reception and meal that followed.

“It was the first time I’ve gotten to meet him, and it was wonderful,” he said about the bishop. “The parish community rallied around and got so excited about his coming for a visit.”

The parish was “incredibly enthusiastic” over the chance to see Bishop Beckman, Deacon Conrad added.

“It’s a very active community. We have a whole bunch of retired people and a very, very active and young Hispanic community here, so it’s wonderful,” he said.