Prayer is not only the recitation of texts, but also a relationship – The ecumenical church in Boskaikert is twenty-five years old | Hungarian Courier
The ceremony was attended by Sándor Tasi, vice president of the Hajdú-Bihar County Self-Government; Lajos Barcsa, deputy mayor of Debrecen; Sándor Szőllős, mayor of Bocskaikert; Mihály Filemon, mayor of Nyírmárton village; Péter Asztalos, deputy mayor of Hajdúhadház and Attila Szegedi, deputy mayor of Téglás, as well as supporters of the Boskaikert ecumenical community.
At the ecumenical thanksgiving, the prayers and songs were led by Archbishop-Metropolitan Fülöp Kocsis; county bishop Ferenc Palánki preached.
“He who builds a church thinks of the future, and he who thinks of the future does not leave God out of it. He who does not leave God out of his life, knows what his life’s purpose is, and he who knows what his life’s purpose is, is on the right path even if he encounters injustice, peacelessness, sin, and selfishness on earth, because he never deviates about the straight road” – with these words, Ferenc Palánki, the county bishop of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, began his reflection. He emphasized that by celebrating the 25-year-old church, we believe that we are also on this path.
The purpose of our life is to show that we help each other, and when the Son of Man comes, he will find faith in our hearts – he referred to the gospel passage (Lk 18:1-8) in his message to the chief pastor.
Emphasizing the joy of unity, Bishop Ferenc Palánki put it this way: a great experience in the ecumenical church in the ecumenical prayer community. He recalled the Roman pilgrimage in which he recently participated with the Greek Catholic Archbishop-Metropolitan Fülöp Kocsis and the Reformed Bishop Károly Fekete.
The county bishop of Debrecen-Nyiregyháza also spoke about the importance of prayer: “In the prayer community of the ecumenical church, we bear witness to the fact that praying does not only mean reciting texts, but also connection. He who prays confesses the existence of the supernatural, whom we call God. He is not a distant reality, he can be addressed. We seek God in our prayers, because we want to understand his will and intentions more and more, and we want to understand what his plan is for our lives.
In our churches, we can meet God in a special way through our prayers. The county bishop explained: the church is God’s house, that is, his place of residence on earth. We know and believe that a baptized person is the temple of the Holy Spirit residing in him. We are all baptized people, churches walking on two legs, heaven and earth are connected in us. Why do we still go to community or church? Because the Lord says: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).
We can meet him in a special way in the common prayer of our faith and through our sacraments. We Roman and Greek Catholics celebrate the Eucharist, and the Reformed brothers celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We can draw strength from this encounter.
Those who imagined and created this building did not know at the beginning who would be present at the 25th anniversary, and we also do not know who will be celebrating here 25 years from now. But we believe that there are those who continue the faith and pass it on, keeping Christ in their hearts – said the bishop, then again referring to the Gospel: “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” This is not a threat, but a call to keep our faith.
“Jesus gave an example of how to address the heavenly Father and be in relationship with him. He did not only recite texts, but united in love with the heavenly Father. I wish that those who pray in this church community can unite in love with each other and with the heavenly Father. From the experience of this unity, the community of love, to take on the difficulties, sacrifices and crosses of everyday life and to show that their lives have a meaning and a purpose, namely eternal life, Jesus promised us and made it a reality!” – county bishop Ferenc Palánki concluded his reflection.
After the ecumenical prayer, speeches were made. First, board chairman Gábor Tarcali, deputy mayor of Bocskaikert, greeted those present on behalf of the foundation that dreamed up and designed the church and operated the parish, and thanked the three denominations who built this church together. He gave special thanks to the bishops Nándor Bosák, Szilárd Keresztes, and Gusztáv Bölcskei who were in office at the time, who consecrated the church built on the plans of Ernő Kálmán, an engineer of the Reformed religion, who was connected to Boskaikert and 25 years ago, on September 19, 1997.
Sándor Szőllős, mayor of Bocskaikert and Lajos Barcsa, deputy mayor of Debrecen also spoke at the ceremony.
Contributed by Zoltán Erdő, artist from Transylvania, Hungarian Heritage Award winner.
More information about the anniversary HERE readable.
Text and photo: Ágnes Kovács
Source: Diocese of Debrecen-Nyíregyházi
Hungarian Courier