The Mail from September 2014
This letter was prompted by Fr. Philip Dabney’s September 2013 column:
My story begins in November 1942. The war had started a year before. Ralph, my boyfriend at that time, had been inducted into the Army. He was gone for thirty-eight months, thirty-f ive of which were spent in the South Pacific. He served in the 492nd Quartermaster Corps near the city of Nouméa in New Caledonia. In the summer of 1945, before the war ended in Japan, the 492nd was sent to Japan. By the time they were halfway to their destination, the war ended with the dropping of the atomic bombs. After completing his time of service in Japan, Ralph came home in the middle of January 1946. He converted to Catholicism, and we were married that May. When asked why he became Catholic, he would say first of all because of me and secondly because of a priest named Fr. Lynch, who served with them in New Caledonia. Fr. Lynch was very popular with the men of the 492nd. My husband spoke of the fun-loving, back-slapping chaplain who would call the men “old sinners.” At some point, Ralph said, Fr. Lynch was sent into the war zone and was killed. My husband said there wasn’t a dry eye in the camp when the soldiers heard the sad news of Fr. Lynch’s death. My husband passed away a year ago at the age of 90. I would like to know if the Fr. Lynch in Fr. Philip Dabney’s September 2013 Liguorian column could be the same Fr. Lynch who played such an important part in my husband’s life. Perhaps Fr. Dabney would know if he served on that island of New Caledonia during that war. If he was my husband’s “Fr. Lynch,” It is just another one of those little “happenings” Ralph sends me once in a while to let me know he is still with me. CATHERINE D., MI
Editor’s note: Upon reading this letter, Fr. Dabney notified our reader that Fr. Lawrence Lynch, the man referred to in his column, was the chaplain who played such an important role in her husband’s faith, a beautiful reminder that we certainly live in a small world.
I’m grateful! I received my first issue of Liguorian in December 2013 as a Christmas gift. For such a compact magazine, it is worth a ton in weight for my mind, heart, and soul. Keep up the great work on an awesome publication. God bless all of you! DONNA V., NY
Recently, I commented on Fr. Bruce Lewandowski ’s article saying maybe we should let God choose priests (regardless of gender) through consecration— mixing ordination with consecrat ion. . . . In the May-June 2014 issue, Dr. Massimo Faggioli wrote in his article, Lumen Gentium:“…The people of God have a sensu fidei, sense of the faith, a correct perception of the faith that is not directly under the control of anybody but God and the Spirit.” I said maybe God would consecrate more people to help us out with the numbers if we made this act of faith. BONNIE G., GA
In your May-June issue, I read “Moved by the Holy Spirit.” Nowhere in it do you include prayers to the Holy Spirit. If you want to promote prayers to the Holy Spirit, why not include them in the article? Please be more watchful to create more complete writing. VICTORIA H., WI
