More than 60 of the diocesan presbyterate join Bishop Beckman as he presides at the Holy Week liturgy
By Dan McWilliams
Bishop Mark Beckman participated in many Chrism Masses as a priest of the Diocese of Nashville, hearing his bishops receive the annual renewal of promises made by the presbyterate and seeing his bishops consecrate the holy oils used in the Church throughout the year.
On April 15 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Bishop Beckman heard those promises—also asking for the people of God to pray for him—and consecrated those sacred oils as he presided at his first Chrism Mass as shepherd of the Diocese of Knoxville.
“It was profoundly moving to me, this first time, and I felt a bond with the priests of the diocese in a very profound way tonight,” Bishop Beckman said after Mass. “I’m so grateful to be part of this presbyterate and this diocese.”
The bishop recalled the Chrism Masses in Nashville that he took part in.
Diocesan priests, including (center, from left) Father Jesús Guerrero and Father Moises Moreno, vest in Cathedral Hall before the Chrism Mass. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“With the promises of the priesthood—you know, annually of course I renewed them as a priest, but it was also very moving for me both to ask for promises tonight and to make them, so very profound,” he said. “Then the blessing of the oils, of course, I’ve observed at every Chrism Mass I’ve been to, but to actually be part of praying over the chrism and the oils and blessing them—very, very profound.”
Bishop Beckman primarily faced the priests seated around the altar at the cathedral as he delivered his homily, appropriate considering the annual Tuesday-of-Holy-Week liturgy.
“It’s nice to celebrate the priesthood, it really is, because of course we’re called to be of service to all of God’s people, but I think that the lay faithful who gather tonight are so supportive of our priests, and they like to support them, so that’s the beauty of it,” the bishop said.
Cathedral rector Father David Boettner, Father Doug Owens, Father David Carter, Father Mike Nolan, and Father Mark Schuster concelebrated the Mass. More than 60 additional priests took part, and 25 deacons and more than 20 men and women religious attended.
Deacon A.J. Houston served as deacon of the Word and Deacon Renzo Alvarado Suarez as deacon of the altar at the Chrism Mass. They will be ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Beckman on June 7.
Deacons Hicks Armor and Walt Otey were masters of ceremonies at the Mass. James Meadows, a parishioner of Good Shepherd in Newport, held the bishop’s miter during the liturgy. Pat Stapleton of All Saints Parish in Knoxville coordinated the team that filled up each individual parish’s stocks of holy oils.
Father Michael Woods, representing the diocese’s senior priests, brought forward the balsam for the chrism. The oil of the catechumens was presented by Sara Lindsay and Luca McGhee and the oil of the sick by Mark and Rosemary Calvert. The diocese’s three newest priests, Father Bo Beaty, Father Danny Herman, and Father Michael Willey, brought forward the oil for the chrism.
The gifts were presented by Kim Smith, John Mecklenborg, Rachael Counselman, and Beverly Benoit, representing the newest employees at the Chancery office. Ms. Counselman joined the Church at this year’s Easter Vigil.
Bishop Beckman welcomed those who filled the cathedral to the Chrism Mass.
“It is so good to be together tonight in this cathedral church as we celebrate the Mass of the Holy Chrism, especially to have our entire presbyterate gathered together as we renew our priestly promises tonight, but also all of you, the people of God, gathered here in prayer. It is good that we are together,” he said.
Bishop Mark Beckman receives the balsam for the chrism from Father Michael Woods, representing the senior priests of the diocese, during the Chrism Mass. Deacon Walt Otey is at left. (Photo Gabrielle Nolan)
The bishop recalled as he began his homily the generous use of chrism by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre when he consecrated the Knoxville Diocese’s new leader last July 26.
“This evening, we celebrate the Mass of the Holy Chrism, a substance that has acquired in my life a deeper significance since last summer, when I was ordained a bishop. Most of the priests who were there were close enough to see that Archbishop Fabre likes to use an abundance of sacred chrism. I was warned about that beforehand,” Bishop Beckman remembered.
“Someone said to me, ‘It might get in your eyes. It burns—be careful.’ I have contact lenses, and I thought, ‘I better hold my head up very tall then. I don’t want the chrism going into my eyes.’ But he did—he poured an abundance of chrism all over my head and rubbed it in, and I felt it trickling down behind my ears during the consecration. And that moment in time has stayed with me as I have gone about the diocese confirming young people with that same beautiful gift of sacred chrism.”
The bishop said, “There’s something about the fragrance [of the chrism] that stays with you. Those of you who have confirmed a lot of children or adults at the Vigil of Easter probably are aware when you get home in the evening you still smell the fragrance of chrism with you as you go. That sense of that fragrance filling the air takes me back to that moment when Mary, as we heard just yesterday in the Gospel, anoints the feet of Jesus with oil, with aromatic nard, and the fragrance, the Gospel tells us, filled the whole house. It was her love that moved her to anoint the feet of Jesus, and her love filled that room on that day.”
Chrism was used to ordain the priests of the diocese, whether they were ordained recently or not, Bishop Beckman said.
“My brother priests about to renew your promises, some of you from last summer and some of you many decades ago—your hands were anointed with that same chrism. The fragrance touched your palms and your fingers,” he said. “I’ve been thinking lately about the importance of our hands as priests in serving the people of God.
“How many persons in your years as a priest have you been able to comfort with your hands? Sometimes a hand on a shoulder, sometimes a grasp around the shoulder, sometimes the shaking of a hand—so many moments of life we are privileged to enter because of who the Lord has chosen us to be as His priests, configured to Christ. We serve in persona Christi as Bishop [James D.] Niedergeses would always say, caput ecclesiae, as head of the Church.
“We make Christ present in the lives of our people. That’s what we are called to do and be, to in a sense be the very fragrance of God touching the lives of our people. And that sense of touching them extends to so many profound moments: baptizing babies and using our hands to anoint the crown of the head with sacred chrism. The moments of reconciliation, when persons are seeking the mercy of God, and we hold hands over them in absolution. Moments of sickness, when we anoint the foreheads and hands of those who need the healing power of Christ the Lord.”
One action with their hands is “the most profound of all,” Bishop Beckman said.
The diocese’s newest priests traditionally bring forward the oil for the chrism at the Chrism Mass. From left are Father Michael Willey, Father Danny Herman, and Father Bo Beaty. (Photo Gabrielle Nolan)
“When our hands touch the very bread that will become the body of the Lord. We bless, we break, and we give that body of the Lord to the people of God as nourishment on the pilgrimage of life after we ourselves are fed by the Lord, that very bread of life that sustains us on the great journey,” he said. “This evening, brothers, I’d like to invite you to make a generous response to the Lord tonight. Remember the moment when the Lord called you to sacred orders, the first promises that you made, and the joy you undoubtedly felt as you began your priestly ministry in the Church.
“Tonight, as you renew those promises, let that joy come back to you. And as the sacred chrism was poured so abundantly on my head, let God’s love flow upon you abundantly tonight. Allow that love to flow through you to all those to whom God would send you. Indeed, may the whole human family be touched by the way you allow the generosity of God to flow through you. Let the fragrance of the dawning of God’s kingdom flow through your ministry to touch the people of God. And as you continue forth on your priestly journey, may that fragrance remain with you as you continue the ministry to which the Lord has called you.”
The bishop thanked the priests “for your original yes to the Lord, and thank you for your presence here tonight to renew those sacred promises. And may the Lord bless all of our brothers who cannot be with us, that in them, too, there may be an abundance of the fragrance of the mystery of Christ this night. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
The renewal of commitment to priestly service followed the homily.
Bishop Beckman asked the priests “are you resolved to renew, in the presence of your bishop and God’s holy people, the promises you once made? Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and more closely conformed to Him, denying yourselves and confirming those promises about sacred duties toward Christ’s Church, which, prompted by love of Him, you willingly and joyfully pledged on the day of your priestly ordination? Are you resolved to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God in the Holy Eucharist and other liturgical rites and to discharge faithfully the sacred office of teaching, following Christ the Head and Shepherd, not seeking any gain, but moved only by zeal for souls?” The priests responded “I am” to each question.
The bishop then addressed the assembly, asking them to “pray for your priests, that the Lord may pour out His gifts abundantly upon them and keep them faithful as ministers of Christ, the High Priest, so that they may lead you to Him, who is the source of salvation.”
Bishop Beckman asked those in the pews to “pray also for me, that I may be faithful to the apostolic office entrusted to me in my lowliness and that in your midst I may be made day by day a living and more perfect image of Christ, the Priest, the Good Shepherd, the Teacher, and the Servant of all.”
After the balsam for the chrism and the oils were brought forward, the bishop blessed the oil of the sick and the oil of the catechumens. He mixed the balsam and oil of the chrism, then breathed over the chrism, praying that the Holy Spirit be present, and he said the consecratory prayer over the chrism.
Bishop Mark Beckman celebrates the Liturgy of the Eucharist at the Chrism Mass as Deacon A.J. Houston (left) and Father Mark Schuster pray alongside him. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
In his closing remarks at Mass, Bishop Beckman said, “It is so good that the people of God are so beautifully present here tonight: our deacons, our religious women and men, our Chancery staff and leaders, and the people of God from the four corners of the diocese.”
“Thank you for your presence tonight, especially my brother priests: thank you,” he added. “May the Lord bless our celebration of Holy Week.
Father Woods brought forward the oil for the chrism for the third year in a row.
“It’s even more humbling because I’m representing the other priests. I see so many new men coming up, and it’s beautiful to be part of that,” he said.
Father Carter, rector of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, spoke of the Chrism Mass as being the time for the renewal of priestly promises and “the Mass where the instruments of our ministry are confected: the oils that we use every day. I keep the oil of the sick in a pouch in my pocket right here, and it’s the oil from last year’s Chrism Mass, so this is a work trip. We came to get the instruments of our ministry from the hands of our chief shepherd, the bishop, and around him to renew and rededicate ourselves to that ministry through our renewal of promises.”
The priests of the diocese meet multiple times during the year, but the gathering at the Chrism Mass is special, Father Carter said.
“We meet together with the bishop all the time for business reasons. This is the primary gathering of the presbyterate with our chief priest, with the bishop. It’s the source of our unity,” he said. “When we get together and concelebrate with him, this is the highest Mass that we can do every year together as a presbyterate. Now, we do the same thing when we get together for ordinations, but not everybody can usually make it, but this is kind of the all-call, everybody on deck, and what a joy it is.”
