Diocese of Knoxville’s third shepherd laid to rest at Sacred Heart Cathedral
By Dan McWilliams
On an overcast afternoon nearly 17 years to the day he was ordained as the Diocese of Knoxville’s third shepherd, Bishop Richard F. Stika was laid to rest in the columbarium of the cathedral whose construction was a milestone of his 14-year episcopate.
Bishop Mark Beckman presided at the funeral Mass for Bishop Stika on March 10 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Bishop Stika, who died at age 68 on Feb. 17 in his native St. Louis, frequently said in homilies after the new cathedral was dedicated in 2018 that he would be buried there.
Two of Bishop Stika’s longtime friends, Cardinal Justin Rigali and fellow St. Louisan Cardinal Timothy Dolan, concelebrated the funeral Mass along with Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz—second bishop of Knoxville and archbishop emeritus of Louisville, Ky.—Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv, of the Diocese of Lexington, Ky.; Bishop J. Terry Steib, SVD, bishop emeritus of Memphis; Bishop David P. Talley of Memphis; Bishop Roger J. Foys, bishop emeritus of Covington, Ky.; and Bishop Steven J. Raica and Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Baker, both of Birmingham, Ala. They were joined by more than 50 priests and some 25 deacons.
“I want to take a moment to welcome all of you to our cathedral church as we celebrate this funeral liturgy for Bishop Stika. A warm welcome to our cardinals, Archbishop Kurtz, our bishops, our priests and deacons, our seminarians, so many of the religious Sisters and Brothers whom Bishop Stika invited to the diocese as well as so many men and women faithful here gathered in our cathedral church, and in a particular way to the family of Bishop Stika here present,” Bishop Beckman said in his greeting at Mass. “We gather today to celebrate the mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection. We pray for Bishop Stika and all who mourn his passing.
“Let us pray: O God, who chose your servant Bishop Richard Stika from among your priests and endowed him with pontifical dignity in the apostolic priesthood, grant, we pray, that he may also be admitted to their company forever.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York, delivers the homily for the funeral Mass of Bishop Stika. (Photo Bee Goodman)
Cardinal Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York, delivered the homily at the funeral Mass, which followed a memorial Mass on March 3 held at the Church of the Annunziata in Ladue, Mo., near St. Louis, where Bishop Stika was serving when he was appointed bishop of Knoxville. Cardinal Rigali, a former archbishop of St. Louis who lived with Bishop Stika in Knoxville from 2011 onward and continued to reside with him when they returned to Missouri in 2023, read a statement at the end of both Masses.
Diocese of Knoxville chancellor Deacon Sean Smith was deacon of the Word at the funeral Mass, with Deacon Fredy Vargas serving as deacon of the altar and the cathedral’s Deacon Walt Otey as master of ceremonies.
Readings were proclaimed by Sister Mary Clara Auer, FSGM, Cardinal Rigali’s longtime secretary as well as a friend of Bishop Stika, and Brian Hazelton.
Glenn Kahler, director of music and liturgy for the cathedral, led the music ministry at the Mass. Nine singers and three instrumentalists from Sacred Heart, including cantor Michelle Pokelwaldt and organist Sarah-Clementine Mire, also took part.
The funeral Mass began in the cathedral vestibule with Bishop Beckman sprinkling the casket with holy water. The pall was placed over the casket by Bishop Stika’s niece, Michele Oswald, her husband, Todd, and their family.
Jesus, I trust in thee
Cardinal Dolan began his homily by quoting Bishop Stika’s episcopal motto. The Latin version, Iesu Confido in Te, is inscribed on the front of the cathedral’s baldacchino, the 45-foot canopy over the altar.
“Five words. Five words, folks—that’s all I want to propose this morning of the funeral Mass of my brother Bishop Richard Stika, and those five words are this—you ready? You know them already. ‘Jesus, I trust in thee. Jesus, I trust in thee’—five powerful words,” said Cardinal Dolan. “You realize how pivotal, how pivotal those five words were for Bishop Richard Stika? These words were his episcopal motto, as a matter of fact. This was the prayer, as you know, given us by St. Faustina in the Divine Mercy devotion, so meaningful for Pope St. John Paul II, for whom the man we mourn had such love and loyalty.”
That motto made its adopter the subject of good-natured ribbing.
“Cardinal Rigali and I would often tease Bishop Stika that this aspiration, these five words—ah! it was just a newer version of the earlier older invocation of St. Margaret Mary that we had learned as kids: ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in thee,’” said Cardinal Dolan, who was elevated to the episcopacy in 2001 as an auxiliary bishop of St. Louis, where he was consecrated by Cardinal Rigali when the latter was the Missouri see city’s archbishop.
Cardinal Dolan repeated the English version of Bishop Stika’s episcopal motto.
Bishop Mark Beckman leads the assembly in prayer during the burial service for Bishop Richard F. Stika in the Sacred Heart Cathedral columbarium on March 10. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“Jesus, I trust in thee. Might those hallowed words ring in our souls this afternoon as we admit a sense of bewilderment at his passing at a relatively premature age, as we thank God for his life and ministry, which was an apostolate filled with its share of ups and downs, a combination of success and setbacks every faithful disciple of Jesus experiences,” he asked.
“Condolences to you, Bishop Beckman, and this diocese that he so cherished. Sympathy to you, Cardinal Justin Rigali—you were a spiritual father to him—my brother bishops, priests, and deacons, religious Sisters whom he so loved, his family, his many friends that have come from this diocese and beyond.”
Cardinal Dolan referred to the liturgy’s second reading from Romans 6, as well as to the particular season in which Bishop Stika passed away.
“Fitting it is—no?—that we would come together in hope this blessed season of Lent as we try our best to recapture the mystery of the Passover, right? The Passover of God’s people, the people of Israel, from slavery to freedom, from death to life, from exile in a temporary home to their true dwelling and ours: the Promised Land of eternity. The Passover, as we laser in on the Passover of Jesus, His paschal mystery, as He passed over from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, from dying to rising,” Cardinal Dolan said.
“Holy Mother Church defines this paschal mystery—listen: ‘The dying and rising of Christ and our absorption into it,’ that’s what the Catechism says. Sure—the paschal mystery, the dying and rising of Christ that occurred 1,993 years ago. But a mystery that still goes on as those united to Him and to that mystery are sucked up into that infinite, everlasting passage. How does that happen? Well, we just had the answer to that question in our readings from God’s holy Word. St. Paul teaches that we were indeed buried with Him through baptism into his death so that, just as Christ was raised from dead, we, too, might live in newness of life, for if we have grown into union with Him through His death, we shall also be united to Him in His resurrection.”
The cardinal stressed his words again, citing the Gospel reading from John 6.
“Did you get that? And that’s not all. Jesus assures us that ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever,’” he said. “Boy, oh boy, no wonder we would whisper: ‘Jesus, I trust in thee’ with those promises.”
Cardinal Dolan added that “there’s one certainty among the ups and downs of Bishop Stika’s nearly seven decades with us” and mentioned an Italian appetizer to make his point.
Bishop Mark Beckman presides at the funeral Mass for Bishop Richard F. Stika on March 10 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as Father Mike Nolan sings the “Celtic Song of Farewell.” (Photo Bee Goodman)
“One certainty that we know for sure is that he was christened, he was baptized, at Epiphany Parish back in St. Louis, and that daily as a priest, he was nourished by the very bread of heaven. See? Baptism and the Eucharist,” he said. “This magnificent cathedral is indeed almost a shrine, an icon, to the centrality of those two paschal, Easter sacraments of baptism and the holy Eucharist. This Lenten Passover journey of 40 days is but antipasto to our celebration of the Lord’s Last Supper.”
The cardinal questioned “is there somberness as we lament” the passing of Bishop Stika.
“You bet there is,” he said. “But it’s a somberness of that Friday weirdly called ‘Good’ when the sun hid in shame and when the earth trembled in grief. Is there hope and light this afternoon in Knoxville? Yep—the hope and light that transfigured that Easter dawn, as the first Christians chanted ‘by dying He destroyed our death, by rising He restored our life.’”
Cardinal Dolan ended his homily with a couple of baseball references, one to the St. Louis Cardinals—the team Bishop Stika was a diehard fan of all of his life.
“What do you say, in conclusion? We go from those five words, ‘Jesus, I trust in thee,’ to those five decades, the mysteries of the rosary. Don’t worry, I’m not going to pray it. Joyful, luminous, sorrowful, glorious—the mysteries of the rosary that Bishop Stika and Cardinal Rigali would pray together every evening,” he said.
“Now, folks, look at the odds. As I read it, that’s 3 to 1, all right? You’ve got the joyful, you’ve got the luminous, you’ve got the glorious on the one hand. You’ve got the sorrowful on the other. That’s 3 to 1. The sports fan that he was would take those odds, and he would wager on them. That’s what we would call a pretty good bet. Better, even, than those given the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees this spring training. As we confess, this is no gamble at all but a sure thing because ‘Jesus, we trust in thee.’”
Deacon Smith led the intercessory prayers following the homily.
“In baptism, Richard received the light of Christ. Scatter the darkness now and lead him over the waters of death. Our brother Richard shared in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, leading God’s people in prayer and worship. Bring him into your presence, where he will take his place in your heavenly liturgy. Many friends and members of our families have gone before us and await the kingdom. Grant them an everlasting home with your Son,” the deacon said.
“Those who trusted in the Lord now sleep in the Lord. Give refreshment, rest, and peace to all whose faith is known to you alone. For the family and friends of our brother Richard, that they may be consoled in their grief by the Lord, who wept at the death of His friend Lazarus. We all are assembled here in faith and confidence to pray for our brother Richard. Strengthen our hope so that we may live in the expectation of your Son’s coming.”
Remembering His servant
As the Liturgy of the Eucharist began, the gifts were presented by Bishop Stika’s niece, Mrs. Oswald, and her husband and their family. After concelebrating bishops joined in the Eucharistic Prayer, Bishop Beckman said:
Bishop Mark Beckman, with fellow bishops and priests, celebrates the Liturgy of the Eucharist during the funeral Mass for Bishop Richard F. Stika at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on March 10. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“Remember your servant Richard, whom you have called from this world to yourself, grant that he who is united with your Son in a death like His may also be one with Him in His resurrection, when from the earth He will raise up in the flesh those who have died and transform our lowly body after the pattern of His own glorious body. To our departed brothers and sisters, too, and to all who are pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom. There we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory, when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes, for seeing you, our God, as you are, we shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end, through Christ, Our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.”
After Communion, Bishop Beckman prayed: “Almighty and merciful God, that as you made your servant Bishop Richard Stika an ambassador for Christ on earth so you may raise him purified by this sacrifice to be seated with Christ in heaven, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.”
Cardinal Rigali, who was principal consecrator of Bishop Stika at his ordination and installation in Knoxville on March 19, 2009, read a statement at the end of Mass.
“Dear friends of Bishop Stika, I thank you all for being here today, for coming here to pray for the eternal repose of the soul of Bishop Stika. We have been given a great gift by God, and we are grateful for the gift of the goodness and the love of God that we have known in Bishop Stika,” he said. “Yes, through him, our friend, we have in so many ways known what God is like. He is loving. He is faithful. He is kind and merciful. He is forgiving, always.
“Bishop Stika has taught us so well how to live, how to love, how to be generous with one another. He has taught us to share with one another and to lead others with joy to the Father. As we give thanks for his long and dedicated service to the Church, we pray that God will give him eternal life and rest.”
Father Mike Nolan, pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland, sang the “Celtic Song of Farewell” as the Mass ended.
Cardinal Justin Rigali delivers remarks to the congregation during the Mass. (Photo Bill Brewer)
“Before we go our separate ways, let us now take leave of our brother. May our farewell express our affection for him. May it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope. One day we shall joyfully greet him again when the love of Christ, which conquers all things, destroys even death itself,” Bishop Beckman said before Father Nolan sang.
Afterward, Bishop Beckman led the Final Commendation and prayed: “Into your hands, Father of mercies, we commend our brother Bishop Richard in the sure and certain hope that together with all who have died in Christ, he will rise with Him on the last day. Merciful Lord, turn toward us and listen to our prayers. Open the gates of paradise to your servant and help us who remain to comfort one another with the assurances of faith until we all meet in Christ and are with you and with our brother forever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Deacon Vargas concluded the Mass by saying, “in peace, let us take our brother to his place of rest.”
The assembly, led by the clergy, then processed out of the front doors of the cathedral and around to the adjacent columbarium entrance as they sang “How Great Thou Art.” When that song ended, Katie Helms played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes during the procession. Diocesan priests entered the columbarium gate singing “Salve Regina.”
“Our brother Bishop Richard has gone to his rest in the peace of Christ. May the Lord now welcome him to the table of God’s children in heaven. With faith and hope in eternal life, let us assist him with our prayers. Let us pray also to the Lord for ourselves. May we who mourn be reunited one day with our brother. Together may we meet Christ Jesus when He who is our life appears in glory,” Bishop Beckman said at the graveside, then quoted Matthew 25:34: “We read in sacred Scripture ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, says the Lord. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”
Bishop Beckman sprinkles holy water on the grave of Bishop Stika. Bishop Stika, the third shepherd of Knoxville, expressed his wish when the cathedral was dedicated to be buried there. (Photo Bee Goodman)
The bishop sprinkled his predecessor’s grave with holy water.
“Lord Jesus Christ, by your own three days in the tomb, you have hallowed the graves of all who believe in you and so made the grave a sign of hope that promises resurrection, even as it claims our mortal bodies. Grant that our brother may sleep here in peace until you awaken him to glory, for you are the resurrection and the life. Then he will see you face to face and in your light will see light and know the splendor of God, for you live and reign for ever and ever,” Bishop Beckman said before reading the prayer of committal:
“In sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our brother Bishop Richard as we commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him; the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious to him; the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace.”
Deacon Smith offered intercessory prayers before Bishop Beckman led the assembly in the Lord’s Prayer.
“Lord, you consoled Martha and Mary in their distress. Draw near to us who mourn Richard and dry the tears of those who weep. You wept at the grave of Lazarus, your friend. Comfort us in our sorrow. You raised the dead to life. Give to our brother Richard eternal life. You promised paradise to the repentant thief. Bring Richard to the joys of heaven,” the deacon said. “Our brother Richard was washed in baptism and anointed with the Holy Spirit. Give Richard fellowship with all your saints. Richard was nourished with your body and blood. Grant him a place at the table in your heavenly kingdom. Comfort us all in our sorrow at the death of Richard and let our faith be our consolation and eternal life our hope.”
Bishop Beckman then gave a final prayer and blessing.
“O God of holiness and power, accept our prayers on behalf of your servant Bishop Richard. Do not count his deeds against him, for in his heart he desired to do your will. As his faith united him to your people on earth, so may your mercy join him to the angels in heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord,” he said. “Merciful Lord, you know the anguish of the sorrowful, you are attentive to the prayers of the humble. Hear your people who cry out to you in their need and strengthen their hope in your lasting goodness. We ask this through Christ our Lord.”
The faithful prayed for God to grant eternal rest to Bishop Stika and for perpetual light to shine upon him, and that “his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
“May the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And may almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” Bishop Beckman said.