The <strong><strong>No</strong>tre</strong> <strong>Dame</strong> <strong>Alumnus</strong> AltUH4U lleluf4J0444. R44Ueti4t To the Boys in Service: The Old Padre -wants to make this Bulletin primarily for the boys in service of whom he knows so many and intimately. I've received so many letters from you that I can't quite answer them all promptly. I'd like this, therefore, to be a personal note to all of you, wherever you Father Lynch : BY KEV. JOHN P. LYNCH, CS.C, '25: are, as personal as over the desk in 117 Dillon or down at the Grotto or over a cup of coffee in the "caf." Many write to me at N.D. (thinking I'm still there), and some have kidded me for letting Dooley and Armstrong run the above picture of me taken about ten years ago. I'm too busy to have a new picture, and besides, I'm ten (or more) years younger in spirit, due to rest after an illness. One morning at <strong><strong>No</strong>tre</strong> <strong>Dame</strong> in 1942 I woke up with one lung flatter than a punctured balloon, and was assigned to less exhausting work as chaplain to the Medical Mission Sisters, 8400 Pine Road, Philadelphia 11. They are missionary nuns training to be doctors and nurses, who one day will go all over the world— India, Africa, China, the South Pacific— after you've come home. Anyway, here I am, with the old blower all healed and pumped tp and my greatest regret is that I can't be in the service with "my boys" with whom, as it were, I grew up in the priesthood. I can't be with you as a chaplain because the medical history of my One Bum Lung forecloses acceptance by the Army or Navy. CHRIST KNOWS SERVICE LIFE But I can help even from here with prayers to Him who fought for you and endured misery, absence from home, loneliness, mental and physical anguish and pain; to her whose eyes are not limited to the Dome's Indiana horizon, and who watches over her sons as, a sleepless mother, night and day, as they suffer and endure much as her Son suffered and endured. That Son in a sense left Home, a glorious, happy Home and taking on human nature volunteered to fight for someone else—for us—to protect and deliver us from the slavery of sin, from the tyranny of the devil on this earth and from eternal torment after. He left that Home for 33 years, because He loved His Father and us. His brothers, so much. . He was willing to fight for us. He was willing to suffer for us. He was willing Spiritual Benefits At the lecent meeting in Cleve|cm(L the alumni directors asked me to outline the spiritual benefits that our alumni and benefactors enjoy at <strong><strong>No</strong>tre</strong> <strong>Dame</strong>. This I gladly do. They are as follows: Every year each priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States offers the Divine Sacrifice at least once for all benefactors, living and dead. Daily at the evening prayer exercise, a special petition is offered to God by the respective communities assembled, not only in the religious houses on the compus, but throughout the United States. Prayers of both faculty and students are offered for deceased members of the alumni as well as their dear ones. On request, prayers ore said for special intentions of alumru. For more than a year Mass has been offered daily for men in the armed forces. The president and a number of other priests make it a practice to offer the Divine Sacrifice for our valiant sons iriie have been killed. At the special hour of adoration on Sunday, the Congregation is mindful ol all benefactors, living and dead, including alumni and students. At frequent intervals throughout the year, in keeping with the tradition ol the president's office, I offer Mass for alumni and benefactors. Hence, you can see there is a rich Sfnritual treasury in which you share. It is the strongest possible bond between the priests and religious of Holy Cross and the alumni and students. to die for us. His death for us would earn freedom and grace. And grace, the title to eternal life, would bring the unconquerable assurance that after our fight on this earth was over, we'd go Home, to that same glorious, eternal Home of perpetual peace and happiness with God and with those we love. His fight approached the climax one night in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knelt there terrifyingly alone. HE KNEW FEAR With His divine vision and foresight. He looked down through the ages. He could see every sin of every man, every one of them. He could see every bit of ingratitude and betrayal, by those He was fighting for. They'd go on strike; they wouldn't back Him up. They'd carouse; they'd take His suffering for granted. Oh, at times they'd thank Him maybe, but infrequently and grudgingly. They'd stare at Him blankly when He asked, not a favor, but just a decent break, a decent return in justice—no favor, mind you, just a decent break. They just wouldn't understand or appreciate what He went through—or if they did, they wouldn't seem to give a dam. A lot of thoughts go through your mind when you're alone and suffering and fearful—and He was afraid and wavered as His own words testify. He asked His Apostles to watch with Him one hour, just one hour, but they rolled over—for another sleep. Even those closest to Hini, they couldn't understand or appreciate. You who have gone through much of what He did, you'll understand and appreciate what He felt. WAS IT WORTHWHILE? Was He being a "sucker?" Was it worthwhile? The very ones He was fighting for and suffering for would neglect Him, betray Him, let Him down, sin, and make it harder for Him. He foresaw, not vaguely but in detail, not doubtfully but certainly, everything He had to go through, go through when He could have escaped it all. Seizure by His enemies. Insult by His enemies, torture, torture the whole night through, scourging every inch of His Body. And thirst, so like the American boys taken prisoner on Bataan. Blows in the face, spit in the face. Finally His Cross. He'd carry it stumbling, blinded with blood and spittle. Then death, and not a quick, honorable merciful death, but a slow, agonizing death, amid ridicule and jeers. (Continued on Page 6)
The <strong><strong>No</strong>tre</strong> <strong>Dame</strong> <strong>Alumnus</strong> This masrazine is published bi-monthly by'the UniTersitT of <strong><strong>No</strong>tre</strong> <strong>Dame</strong>, <strong>No</strong>tn <strong>Dame</strong>, TT
Change language