‘Roll up your sleeve’

Pope Francis recently launched a powerful appeal for people to get vaccinated, calling it “an act of love.”

In a video message, the pope praised the work of researchers and scientists in producing a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. “Thank to God’s grace and to the work of many,” he said, “we now have vaccine to protect us from COVID-19”

I’m not Roman Catholic, but as a retired clergy and chaplain of a Protestant faith group in civilian, military and health care settings, I applaud the pope for his courage and insight to encourage us to get the vaccine to protect ourselves and the others around us as an expression of love.

I agree also with Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institute of Health and an Evangelical Christian who said that the vaccine is a gift from God and an answer to our prayers.

In the words of Collins, “roll up your sleeve,” and “unwrap that gift.”

The Rev. Paul L. Yeun, is a retired United Methodist minister who served 10 years in churches in Ohio; 20 years in the US Air Force chaplaincy; and 18 years as the director of pastoral services at Chambersburg Hospital in Pennsylvania. He and wife now live in Atlanta.