Having never been in military service, what I knew about military chaplains came from watching and listening to Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy in weekly episodes of "M*A*S*H." That changed in 1985 when a friend of mine from graduate school, Fr. Lew Brown, called to tell me that his bishop had given him permission to become a Navy chaplain. The local newspaper provided one of my all-time favorite headlines: "Father Brown's got the blues."
Fr. Lew and I have kept in touch over the years as he has moved from assignment to assignment. Some stateside, others overseas. He also spent a year aboard the USS Nimitz. Each place brought with it adventures, but one thing remained constant: Fr. Lew was always the pastor to the enlisted men and women, officers and his fellow chaplains.
When he retired from the Navy last year, Ruth and I attended the ceremony at Naval Station Great Lakes. At the dinner that followed, we not only heard stories about Fr. Lew's pastoral service, but chaplains of different denominations spoke of where they served, what they encountered and how they dealt with it. Nearly a year later, I'm still awed by the depth and extent of pastoral outreach these men and women provide to our military personnel.
As I thought about today's observance of Armed Forces Day, I thought about Fr. Lew, his fellow chaplains and the thousands of lives they have touched. While we often pray for our service men and women in church n I hope your church prays for them n we should pray in particular for chaplains.
I know from a Catholic viewpoint that there is a need for priests to serve in this capacity. However, with the shortage of priestly vocations, it is a sacrifice for a bishop to release a priest to this ministry. Members of the faithful might complain, "Why do that when we don't have enough priests here?"
When one considers how chaplains can touch the hearts and souls of their "parishioners," it is an excellent example of ministry. Among recently ordained priests, 11 percent have military experience. Evidently chaplains and vocations directors have found the Armed Forces fertile ground for vocation recruitment.
Who better to be present during a soldier's time of fear, need, concern, and sorrow than a chaplain? As Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, archbishop for the Military Services, USA, recently wrote, "The presence of our Catholic chaplains is not an option, it is a necessity." The same could also be said for chaplains from other denominations.
Fr. Lew has returned to his home diocese in upstate New York where he is a pastor. I'm sure his parishioners are grateful to have him. I hope they show their gratitude by thanking God, particularly for the service Fr. Lew gave to his church and country, and that they, like you and I, will pray for chaplains who serve the pastoral needs of our Armed Forces.
