‘A beautiful light in this world’

Bishop Beckman presides at memorial Mass for Pope Francis

By Bill Brewer

Pope Francis was remembered in memorial Masses held in churches throughout the Diocese of Knoxville in the days immediately following his April 21 death.

And as parishes marked the solemn occasion, Bishop Mark Beckman was the principal celebrant of a diocesan memorial Mass for the Holy Father held at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on April 28.

Bishop Beckman spoke about the life, ministry, and legacy of Pope Francis as a portrait of the Holy Father draped in black bunting rested on an easel beside the altar. A candle has burned in memoriam constantly next to the portrait since April 21, keeping silent vigil for the 266th successor to St. Peter.

“Brothers and sisters, it is so good that we are here tonight to pray for Pope Francis during this Easter season as we celebrate the victory of Christ over death. And because of that, we gather with sadness at the loss of a beautiful light in this world. We also are confident in the victory of Christ and full of joy at the promise of the Lord. So, we console ourselves with that promise of the resurrection,” Bishop Beckman said to begin the memorial Mass.

Then, Bishop Beckman offered the Opening Prayer for the Holy Father.

“O God, the Immortal Shepherd of souls, look on Your people’s prayers and grant that Your servant, Pope Francis, who presided over Your Church in charity, may, with the flock entrusted to his care, receive from Your mercy the reward of a faithful steward, through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.”

Concelebrating the memorial Mass were Father David Boettner, rector of the cathedral; Father Julian Cardona, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City; Father Christopher Manning, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Athens; Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville; Father Jim Harvey, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Jefferson City; Father John O’Neill of the Diocese of Nashville; and Father Jhon Mario Garcia, cathedral associate pastor.

Deacon Sean Smith and Deacon Bob Hunt were joined by Deacon Mike Mescall and Deacon Walt Otey at the Mass. Deacon Mescall served as deacon of the Word, and Deacon Otey served as deacon of the altar.

Readers for the special Mass for the Holy Father were high-school students Nicholas Saez and Maggie Parsons.

Bishop Beckman began his homily with the verse from the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.”

“The Beatitudes tonight speak to me of a faithful disciple and follower of Jesus, the Lord. And the humility with which Jesus invited His disciples to the mountaintop, where He sat and began to teach them the way of the kingdom. All who were baptized began as followers of the Lord Jesus. And Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, began as a follower of Jesus Christ. As a Jesuit, he would have learned intensely the importance of being close to Jesus and following Him. And if I had to pick one of the Beatitudes that he most effectively gave to the world, it was mercy; mercy for those who most need mercy,” Bishop Beckman said.

The congregation attending the memorial Mass was diverse in age, with faithful young and older remembering the pope who appealed to a world rich in diversity.

In addition to being the first Jesuit to serve as pope, Francis was the first Latin American pontiff. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also was the first pontiff from the Southern Hemisphere and the first born or raised outside of Europe since the eighth-century Syrian Pope Gregory III.

Bishop Beckman recalled the early days of Pope Francis’ pontificate, when the Holy Father was reaching out to people around the globe.

“I am reminded early in his papacy when they asked him, I think, on the airplane, ‘Who is Jorge Bergoglio?’ He said in reply, ‘I am a sinner. A sinner who is loved by God.’ And at the end of his papacy, one of his last great documents was on the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” the bishop said.

“And in that beautiful encyclical—I think it’s so wonderful that we’re in this Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus tonight—he remembered the words of the Apostle Paul, that Paul knew that the Son of God loved him. And it was because of that that Paul was able to do everything that he did,” he added.

Bishop Beckman believes the Holy Father was divinely familiar with the Beatitude most closely associated with him.

“I am convinced that Pope Francis knew the tender mercy of God, His infinite love, in such a way that he knew that all faithful followers of Jesus must reflect that mercy toward others. That is the real gift he has been to the Church, and I think will be for years to come,” the bishop shared.

Bishop Beckman then asked the congregation how many of them remembered when Pope Francis was first elected on March 13, 2013. A number of hands raised in the air.

“I thought I might see quite a few hands tonight. I will never forget. I was watching television because I had seen that the white smoke had gone up. And I was waiting for the new pope to come out on the balcony at St. Peter’s. And when he walked out with all the humility and said, ‘Buona sera.’ Good evening. Very humble. And then he invited and asked for prayer for himself before he gave a blessing. I will never forget that moment,” Bishop Beckman remembered.

“As I prayed for Francis that evening, a silence descended upon St. Peter’s Square. All through his papacy, he repeated that refrain: ‘Please pray for me,’” he noted.

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Beckman as the Diocese of Knoxville’s fourth shepherd on May 7, 2024, and the bishop was ordained and installed on July 26.

“The only opportunity I had to meet Pope Francis face to face was the result of him calling me to be your bishop,” the leader of the Church in East Tennessee said.

Bishop Beckman pointed out that it was on April 29, 2024, when papal nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre called him to share the news that Pope Francis had selected him as the next bishop of Knoxville.

“My response was, ‘Me?’” the bishop said to laughter. “I said, ‘May I pray about this?’ The nuncio said yes.”

“But I got the opportunity, thanks be to God, to meet with Pope Francis last September. One thing I wanted to do was to thank him for the gift he has been to the Church and the world. I had the opportunity to see him face to face, and he took me by the hand, and I looked right into his eyes, and I just said, ‘We love you. Thank you for everything you have done for the Church and the world.’ That heartfelt gratitude that I expressed on your behalf as the people of this diocese was part of my heart that day,” the bishop continued.

Despite the Holy Father’s recent serious illness, his death was unexpected as he appeared to be recovering, and he made public appearances on Easter Sunday, including attending Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, leading the traditional Easter blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, and meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Rome with his family.

“I have to say that I was not prepared for his passing. That moment came for me in a very unexpected way, as I’m sure it did for many of us. It seemed like he was getting better. He had gone to St. Peter’s Square to meet the people and bless them on Easter Sunday,” the bishop shared. “But after I received word that morning on Monday (April 21), the first thing I did was go out on my parents’ screen porch and pray the Morning Prayer.”

“And, of course, the whole liturgy at this time is about the victory of Christ over death, the resurrection. And I knew intuitively that the Lord had called Francis home during this greatest of mysteries, the victory over death. And that, in itself, was full of beautiful, symbolic import. Somehow, the mystery of the victory of Christ and his passing during that great octave of Easter was meant to be,” he noted.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners descended on the Vatican to pay their last respects to the pontiff who they held dear in their hearts. And memorial Masses for Pope Francis were celebrated in virtually every Catholic church.

“I want to say clearly that there is a loss in this world. Francis brought a unique kind of light to the people of our world. That’s why so many people went to St. Peter’s for his funeral Mass on (April 26) and went to see him,” Bishop Beckman said. “And yet the very mystery that we celebrate is inviting us to bear the light of Christ to the world, to continue to share that gift of what we have experienced, because we, too, have been loved by the Son of God, who loved us and gave His life for us.”

Bishop Beckman pointed out that the light of Christ was present and visible during Easter Vigil in the Paschal Candle, and its light was spread throughout the cathedral. That light from the Paschal Candle was present during the memorial Mass.

“My invitation is that the great mercy of God that Francis so freely made visible, that we’re invited now to make that light known. I want to mention in a few particular ways his passionate concern for this beautiful world God has given us, this planet we call home, to care for it well. I believe Francis now knows the new heaven and the new earth, for there will be no more suffering or mourning,” the bishop said.

“The second task, I believe, is to welcome the stranger, the immigrant, the newcomer, those who most need mercy in the world today. Francis reached out to the needy with the compassion and love of Christ. Let’s continue to bring that light to those who most need it. That’s the way we can continue the beautiful legacy that Pope Francis shared with the world.

“After Jesus spoke the Beatitudes, He said to the Apostles, ‘You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth.’ Francis never forgot that. Let’s pray that we never forget that,” the bishop concluded.

Nicholas Saez and his family, who now live in Knoxville, are from Argentina. Nicholas, who is 17, said he was too young to understand the significance of Pope Francis being from Argentina when the pontiff was elected 12 years ago, but his father met the pope when Francis was a bishop in Buenos Aires.

But now that he is older, Nicholas grasps how important Francis’ papacy was.

“I really didn’t pay attention as I do now. From what my parents have told me, he was a great pope who was from Argentina. But I started following him, and I will now follow his legacy,” Nicholas said.

Nicholas participated in the memorial Mass with his father, Pedro Saez, who left Argentina to live in East Tennessee.

“I had the opportunity to live in the area where Pope Francis was serving before he was pope. I met him in my life, and I see the very good things he has done, especially how humble he was all his life, all his career,” Mr. Saez said.

“I remember when he became pope and I was in Argentina. I thought, wow, that is unexpected from us. In the whole country, nobody was expecting this. He has made big changes in the Catholic Church, and we are proud of that. He has really made good changes,” Pedro Saez said.

Also attending the memorial Mass was Zoraida Ballew, a longtime Diocese of Knoxville parishioner.

Ms. Ballew said Pope Francis meant a lot to her.

“The way he taught the Gospel through his humbleness, through his love for the poor, and for the marginalized. To me, he was the way a pope should be, and he made the Catholic Church, the universal Church, the way it is supposed to be,” she said.

“Pope Francis’ legacy is important because he reached out to the poor and sick, following the example of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the perfect Shepherd,” Ms. Ballew added.

The Holy Father also had an impact on Father O’Neill, who recalls vividly when Francis succeeded Pope Benedict XVI as the leader of the universal Church.

“The first thing I remember about the pope is that he said if somebody comes and confesses the same sin 266 times, you should absolve it 267 times. I know he provoked us. He wanted us to keep going, keep jumping into the trenches. Sometimes he was impatient, undoubtedly, but that was for our good and for us to be ardent, very brave, and courageous priests,” Father O’Neill shared.

The Holy Father’s guidance for the Church’s priests also influenced Father O’Neill.

“He made a very interesting comment about priests that has always stuck in my mind. He said six times never, never, never, never, never, never one priest talk about another, which is a great rule because that can be so devastating to the spirit of fraternity,” he recalled.

“The other big statement he made that stuck in my mind was that we are sort of a dressing station for emergencies because we worry in times of (chaos) that God just wants you to handle the wounded who come your way and do your very best about that and not worry about what’s going to follow or what’s going to be next. Just say, ‘I saw them. I didn’t know when I was ever going see them again. I tried to see them in Christ and see Christ in them,’” Father O’Neill observed.

“I loved his energy, his telling us to get on with things, and that we couldn’t plan or put our impression on things. We have to see what is in front of us. I loved that,” he continued. “I believe as part of his legacy, we are called to be very brave, to keep looking to the margins, be very, very docile to what you see in front of you. It’s not what you expected or the way you wanted things to be, but it may be very much the way God, after all, wants it to be.”

Father Boettner believes the memorial Mass was a very appropriate way for the Diocese of Knoxville to mourn the passing of Pope Francis and show its love and admiration for the pontiff and his papacy.

“I thought it was a beautiful way for us to gather. To be able to celebrate a memorial Mass for Pope Francis on that one-week anniversary was beautiful. I think gathering together and praying for the dead goes back to the very beginning of apostolic times. That has always been the Church’s tradition, to pray for those who have died,” Father Boettner said.

“The bishop did such a beautiful job in his homily of highlighting Pope Francis. Pope Francis was the pope of mercy. He really called us to look toward each other in mercy, and especially those who are hungering for mercy,” he added.

The cathedral rector also spoke of what the Holy Father’s legacy likely will be.

“I think Pope Francis will definitely go down as the one who challenged all of us to be missionary disciples. There are no spectator seats in church. Every Christian is really called to be a missionary. But we are also called to go out. The whole point of being a missionary is we go out to the peripheries,” Father Boettner continued. “That is something, I think, he really helped us to take into our hearts and minds. We can’t just sit in our church and wait for people to come to us. We have to go to where people are. We need to be in the prisons. We need to be in the homeless shelters. We need to be where the peripheries are and meet people in those places.”