In the "Dear sis" episode of M*A*S*H, the frustrated Catholic chaplain at the military hospital camp near the Korean front lines writes a candid letter to his sister, a nun.
"I'm almost desperate to be useful, sis," writes Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy. "No one comes to confession. I have no one to grant absolution to, no one to give comfort to, no one who even wants to bend my ear for 10 minutes."
Later, a patient attacks a nurse and slugs the priest. By reflex, Mulcahy – a former Catholic-school boxing coach – punches back. The gentle chaplain is despondent afterwards and doubts that he is making a difference.
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