Bishop Beckman rededicates worship space at Chattanooga church
By Bill Brewer
Renewal—physical and spiritual—was the message of the day on Aug. 16 as members of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga took part in the rededication of their worship space.
Bishop Mark Beckman was joined by OLPH pastor Father Arthur Torres in blessing the newly renovated sanctuary and nave that has given new life to the church that was originally blessed on Sept. 8, 1938.
Bishop Beckman blessed the upgraded worship space, purifying the sanctuary with incense and sprinkling the nave with holy water as a nearly standing-room-only congregation participated. And he took advantage of the celebration to show the importance of renewal through the Holy Spirit in each individual.
Bishop Beckman sprinkles holy water in the renovated nave as he blesses the worship space. He is followed by Father Torres. (Photo Bill Brewer)
As Bishop Beckman celebrated the vigil Mass, he was joined by concelebrating priests Father Torres; Father Andrew Crabtree, OLPH associate pastor; Father Michael Nolan, pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland; Father Nick Tran, chaplain of the St. Faustina Public Association of the Faithful in Chattanooga; Father Matthew Donahue, associate pastor of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga; and Father Zach Griffith, chaplain of the Catholic Center at East Tennessee State University who formerly served at OLPH.
Deacon Wade Eckler served as deacon of the Word, and Deacon Dennis Meinert served as deacon of the Eucharist.
Bishop Beckman highlighted Scripture in his homily that focused on renewal.
“It is so good to be here as we dedicate once more this beautiful church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and to have all of you—the people of God—gather for this great celebration, especially my brother priests and deacons.
“It is indeed a day of rejoicing as we rededicate this church,” the bishop said to begin the Mass.
In his opening prayer, Bishop Beckman said, “Dear brothers and sisters, we gather with great joy here to rededicate this church of God. Let us humbly beseech God that His will be placed among us with His grace and by His power to bless this water, which he has created and by which we are to be sprinkled as a sign of repentance and remembrance of baptism and by which the walls of this new church will be purified. But first, let us remember that we ourselves gather as one in faith and charity and became a living church, a place in the world as a sign of the witness of love with which God cares for all people.”
The bishop then cited Luke and Jeremiah in the Bible as he recalled experiences to illustrate his message.
OLPH associate pastor Andrew Crabtree gives instructions to the altar servers prior to the Aug. 16 Mass to rededicate Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“The words of Jesus are strong words. ‘I come to set the earth on fire.’ I don’t want to wish on you all any burning. But we see these enormous fires in our country out west. And we see what fire does, how powerful and destructive it is,” he observed. “Several years ago, I went hiking in Oregon in the mountains. The year before, a large fire had gone through the forest there. I remember walking a path and wherever there was black there was new vegetation. The trees had burned, and there was that sense of smell of ash. I thought this land has been devastated by fire. The power of that fire overwhelmed my senses. In the words of Jesus today, there is an element of that: ‘I did not come to bring peace.’”
Jeremiah personifies the renewal God seeks in everyone as he was filled with the Holy Spirit, much to the distress of those around him.
“There is inside the heart of Jesus a fire burning. It’s that fire that Jeremiah experienced burning inside his bones. He couldn’t help but speak the truth from God. That fire didn’t subside when Jeremiah spoke the truth. That truth was hard for God’s people to hear—the truth that they did not want to hear, so much so that we hear he was thrown into a cistern. He suffered for speaking of the fire of God,” Bishop Beckman said.
“Jesus can grace us by fire as a powerful symbol and metaphor. So, the truth is there. In each one of us there is a need for the fire of God. There is underbrush in my heart, and some of that needs to be purified and cleansed. And so do attitudes, at times self-centered fear, intolerance, irritation, impatience, a lack of cleanness in the heart, all of those elements. The desire of God is that the fire of the Spirit will indeed purify us. The fire of Jesus. Love is the love of the Father, who wants to have a flame in our hearts, pure hearts, hearts that are purely dedicated to God in love and to each other as brothers and sisters, caring for this beautiful creation that God has entrusted to us,” he added.
The bishop pointed to the analogy of the forests that burn in describing how Jesus Christ burns in the hearts of His followers who are called to relay God’s truth.
“It was only after a number of years of hiking that I went through a forest that burned several years earlier. What I witnessed there was what happens after a fire burns through the underbrush. New life springs up everywhere. I saw flowers and plants and new trees. They were springing up out of the earth. It was as if God was recreating Eden. It was so beautiful. And I thought to myself only with the eyes of faith do we see that fire can lead to such beauty,” Bishop Beckman said.
“I know that the fire of Jesus is still burning. It is His desire that our world will be healed. We look around our country today, and our world. So much death. Attitudes of intolerance toward other people, a lack of hospitality and compassion, where sometimes the most vulnerable members of our community—strangers, newcomers, homeless people—how easy it is for our hearts to become hardened. The fire of God wants to set us free so that we can see each other once more as brothers and sisters, children of God, that the new fruits of love will grow in us,” the bishop added.
Bishop Beckman said the rededicated church at Our Lady of Perpetual Help points perfectly to the way the Holy Spirit can reinvigorate the faithful.
“The newness is meant to reflect the newness God has for us in each of our hearts. He is inviting you and me to be baptized with this baptism, the baptism that Jesus wants to undergo … so that we can be reborn. Made new in the image and likeness of our Creator. A new Eden within and a new Eden in our world,” he said.
Bishop Beckman then asked the congregation to pray for renewal in each person, to be purified and cleansed and rededicated to God as they rededicate the church.
“We can carry the fire of God’s love out into this world that so desperately needs that love. Come Holy Spirit, come, and fill in us the fire of Your love,” he concluded.
Bishop Beckman empathized with the OLPH parishioners for the inconveniences they patiently withstood as renovation work took place over the summer.
Daily Masses were held in a chapel adjacent to the nave and sanctuary while Sunday Masses were celebrated in the OLPH School gymnasium.
“How many of you have done renovations in your homes—kitchens or bathrooms,” the bishop asked the congregation. “You have to live through the mess for a while, don’t you? But the end result is beautiful. It’s a new beginning.”
Father Arthur Torres, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga, shows Bishop Mark Beckman before Mass on Aug. 16 the renovations to the OLPH Church sanctuary that have been made. (Photo Bill Brewer)
Renovation of the 87-year-old church building began June 9 and was completed in late July. The work included a new roof, removing carpet in the nave and sanctuary and restoring the original terrazzo marble floor, a new vesting sacristy for priests and deacons, exposing original brick walls, and returning side chapels to the worship space. The parish raised
$1.6 million for the project.
At the conclusion of Mass, Father Torres thanked Bishop Beckman for leading the celebration to rededicate the church. He also thanked the parish building committee that spearheaded the effort.
Bishop Beckman returned the gratitude, complimenting the priest. The congregation gave Father Torres a rousing ovation.
Bishop Beckman recalled that when he was a seminarian in 1987, he served at OLPH and taught at Notre Dame High School.
“I have so many happy memories of my time here with Father Al Humbrecht, who was here at the time as pastor. What a great gift it was to be able to come to Mass here in this community of faith,” the bishop said. “And the smiles on your faces today are so great as we gather to celebrate the Eucharist together. It is a true joy to be with you.”
Bishop Beckman also received a warm ovation.
“The joy on the faces of the people as we celebrated the Eucharist, it just brought such joy to my heart. And the church looks beautiful. They really did a wonderful job renovating it,” Bishop Beckman said.
Father Torres expressed joy and excitement at the upgrade projects occurring at OLPH’s church and school.
“What a wonderful celebration this was. I am so thankful to the Lord. I’m so thankful to the community that believed in this project. And now we have a completed project. We still have a few things going on, but we are happy. Yes! It is a beautiful house of prayer again for everybody to come and worship with us,” the pastor said, noting that the project withstood its first real test when strong storms battered Chattanooga in early August, causing severe flooding, including just outside the parish property. The church building was untouched and dry.
Robert Jones, a longtime OLPH parishioner who serves as business manager for the parish was excited to attend the rededication Mass and even took photos to preserve the moment.
Father Torres, left, is joined by fellow priests Father Nick Tran, Father Mike Nolan, Father Zach Griffith, and Father Matthew Donahue in concelebrating the OLPH rededication Mass. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“The dedication by the Bishop was a beautiful celebration. It meant so much to the OLPH faithful that Bishop Beckman was present to rededicate the new (restored) OLPH Parish,” Mr. Jones said following the Mass.
Like many involved in the project, he had a front seat to OLPH history.
“I am very proud of this project. It was the first of our projects resulting from our successful capital campaign, ‘Together as One.’ I learned that restorations can be challenging, especially when you’re attempting to restore the history while working with known and unknown conditions. It took a rare combination of both firm and flexible actions,” Mr. Jones said.
“I feel like we accomplished that while modernizing our audio systems and equipment. It takes a ‘village,’ and we had a great team to include Father Arthur, myself, committee chair Blane Haywood, and our wonderful and dedicated building committee,” he added. “We also accomplished this project under a strict deadline. We had to shut down the church for the project and utilize our school gym for Masses during the summer months when the school is on break. Once school started we were already back in the church celebrating in the restored church.”
Dr. Michael Preston attended the Mass and was also excited to see the church in all its new splendor.
“I like the improvements very much. It makes the church anew,” Dr. Preston said, describing Our Lady of Perpetual Help as a vibrant parish. “I’m truly blessed to have these people in my life.”