When the Homily is about Immunology

Jaroslav Pelikan

I just received news that this influential man will likely not have more than a few weeks left in this life. Jaroslav Pelikan became an Orthodox Christian on March 25, 1998 and through his conversions he left a pathway of literary and scholarly work which I was blessed to have followed. (He's also Slovak!) In an interview (8 years before becoming Orthodox) he said:

"For those who believe that you don't need tradition because you have the Bible the Christian Tradition has sought to say, 'You are not entitled to the beliefs you cherish about such things as the Holy Trinity without a sense of what you owe to those who worked this out for you.' To circumvent Saint Athanasius on the assumption that if you put me alone in a room with the New Testament, I will come up with the doctrine of the Trinity, is niave.

A small note appeared in "Crossings.org":

As some may not know, he was diagnosed with lung cancer about 15 months ago and has been fighting the good fight since. He is as comfortable as possible. Hospice folks have come in. Both sons are remaining with Sylvia and Jary till death comes. He is mostly quiet, though not comatose; it is a chore for him to engage in conversation. As his son quoted him saying recently: "...since Christ is risen, nothing else matters and if Christ be not risen nothing else matters."

Amen...INDEED HE IS RISEN!