PASTOR'S MESSAGE
On November 23rd, on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we celebrated the feast of Christ the King.
The image of King is not an easy concept for modern men, but it certainly has a very rich biblical heritage.
Throughout the Old Testament, the King is looked upon as the anointed God.
And in turn refers to God as mighty King and just Ruler.
The Hebrew Scriptures presents God as the King of glory, the ruler of the created universe.
Yet, this talk of Lordship and kingly rule must always be understood in the light of the earthly ministry and message of the Lord Jesus.
He came to proclaim the reign of God and invite all to respond and participate.
The rule of the Lord is one of tender, loving compassion, which seeks out the lost, brings back the stray, heal the injured.
The Lordship of Jesus is quite different from that of earthly rulers.
For the mighty of this world often loves power.
Jesus employs the power of love as the way to lead his people.
Our proclamation: “Jesus is Lord” is not some catchy slogan on a bumper-sticker.
It is very concrete challenge for all of us to live in such a way that all will know that we are his disciples.
What form should this personal and community witness take? The Gospel of Matthew provides us with the key insight: “feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, cloth the naked, comfort the sick, and visit those who are in prison and bondage.”
There is nothing abstract about any of this.
The challenge, for all of us in proclaiming Jesus our Lord, is that our lives must reflect our words.
To affirm that: “Jesus is Lord and Christ is our King” is more than a mare repetition of an ancient formula.
It cuts deeper than what is expected of us this Sunday.
To proclaim that Jesus is Lord and King means that WE ARE committed to a King and Kingdom of love, peace and compassion.
In our Hungarian Mission Community we must work for a world in which ALL human beings are respected.
For each person is the hidden presence of the Lord Jesus.
May the Lord’s rich blessing be with you and your families in the upcoming holy season and always.
We keep you all in our prayers.
Fr. Maurus Nemeth OSB
Father Maurus Nemeth (OSB)
Pastor
Hungarian Catholic Mission
Work: 650-851-6109
Email: mnemeth@prioryca.org
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Another year has come and a new year is quickly approaching.
To the men and women of the Hungrian Catholic Mission, I say thank you.
Thank you for your support to our many Hungarian cultural events.
Most importantly, thank you for your prayers as I battle my cancer and God willing, will recover soon.
I ask your help in reaching out to Father Maurus over the next several months and help volunteer on keeping our Hungarian cultural programs going.
Thank you all for your prayers and I look forward to being back soon.
Ildiko Zentai
ldiko Zentai
President of the Counsel
Hungarian Catholic Mission
Cell: 650-861-0001
Email: ildikoz@yahoo.com
FAITH
Liturgical/Sacramental events since our last Bulletin (Visszatekintes)
Baptism
We had no Baptism since our last Newsletter.
Our Weddings
Two wonderful young couples joined their lives in the Sacrament of Marriage since our last newsletter.
On October 26th, Fr. Maurus officiated the Marriage of Thomas Sabo and Elizabeth Szoboszlay in Saint Anthony Church in San Jose. Elizabeth is the granddaughter of Aladar and Martha Szoboszlay; longtime “pillars” of our Hungarian Catholic Mission. We wish the Young couple God’s rich blessing upon their life together.
On November 29th , Zoltan Lanyi and Agnes Sonkoly joined their lives in the Sacrament of Marriage in the Woodside Priory Chapel. Father Maurus officiated the wedding service.
Their reception took place in the Priory’s Performing Art Center. We wish them God’s speed and a very happy life.
Our Deceased
On June 8th , Martha Gundelfingen Nemeth, in her 98th year of her life , strengthened with the Sacraments, returned to her creator. We celebrated the Mass of the Resurrection for her in our Mission Community on July 20th with her family and many friends. The celebration of the Eucharist was followed by a reception in the student Dining Room given by her family.
On June 21st our beloved Judith Cseuz gave up her life after a brief battle with cancer. A week before her parting, she received the Sacrament of the Sick. We celebrated the Mass of Resurrection for her on July 12 in the Woodside Priory Chapel. The Chapel was packed full with her family and many friends who came to honor her. The Mass was followed by a reception at the Father Egon Plaza.
May Martha and Judith rest in Peace!
Liturgical Events
07 Dec 2014. First Sunday of Advent
08 Dec 2014. Feast of the Immaculate Conception
12 Dec 2014. Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe
14 Dec 2014. 3d Sunday of Advent
21 Dec 2014. 4th Sunday of Advent
24 Dec 2014. Christmas Eve
25 Dec 2014. Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
Hungarian Saints of the Quarter
In our newsletter, we honor two Hungarian saints each quarter. These Hungarian saints demonstrate exemplary virtues and wonderful service to the Lord and His people, and their feast days fall within the time of that quarter. Read about the lives of these saints, and the inspirational lives that they led with the help of God’s grace.
St. Astrik of Pannonhalma
Lived: ? - 1040
Biography:
He is a saint of the 11th century. When Saint Adalbert failed to consolidate his position in Bohemia, he left Prague. Astrik Radla went to help the missionaries among the Magyars. He is known to have been in the service of the wife of Duke Geza. In 997 he was the first Abbot of Pannonhalma Arch Abbey. This was the first ecclesiastical institution of Hungary, founded by Geza. On the Duke's death and the accession of his son Saint Stephen I; the evangelization of the Magyars expanded. Saint Astrik was active in the work of preaching the gospel and establishing an ecclesiastical organization. In connection with this, Stephen sent him to Rome to confer with Pope Silvester II. Soon after his return, Saint Austrik worked hand in hand with King Stephen for the proper settlement of the Church and for the conversion of the fierce Magyars to the faith of Christ. He is believed to have died around the year 1040. Saint Austrik’s feast day is celebrated on November 13th.
St. Stephen of the Árpád Dynasty
Lived: 1242 - 1270
Biography:
She was a nun and the daughter of King Béla IV and Maria Laskarina, the niece of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and the younger sister of Saint Kinga and Blessed Yolanda. Her family lived in exile in Croatia during the Mongol invasion of Hungary (1241–42). Her parents vowed that if Hungary was liberated from the Mongols, they would dedicate the child to religion. Four-year-old Margaret entered the Dominican convent of Veszprém in 1245. Six years later she was transferred; to the Convent of the Blessed Virgin founded by her parents on the "Rabbit’s Island" (Nyulak szigete) near Buda. Margaret Island is named after her. The ruins of the convent can still be seen today. Saint Margaret spent all her life here, dedicating herself to religion and opposing all attempts of her father to arrange a political marriage for her with King Ottokar II of Bohemia. She appears to have taken solemn vows when she was eighteen years old. Her canonization began in 1276. In 1943 Saint Margaret was canonized. Her feast day is January 19th.
CULTURE
August 16th. St. Stephen Bucsu cultural picnic. This year it was even more enriched by a special group of musicians visiting from Vancouver, Canada. The performance of the Eszterlanc Tanc Group and a special remembering of Saint Stephen of Hungary.
August 17th We celebrated King Saint Stephen with our traditional public celebration in the Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco.
Our Mission Sponsored four wonderful concerts given by well-known Hungarian artists, organized by Ildiko Zentai and Timea Zentai.
September 27 “Latin Magic” by: Szucs Antal Gabor
October 4 “Itt vagyok Magyarok” Literary Evening – a presentation of poems by illustrious Hungarian poets, by; Pregitzer Fruzsina and Pankotay Peter
October 25 Piano Concert. By Kalman Olah. The artist gave an unforgettable evening by playing a masterful combination of jazz, classical music and Hungarian folk music.
November 8th We had our traditional Benefit Dinner, (Disznotoros Vacsora)
December 21 “Christmas Concert” by: Balint Sapson composer and concert pianist.
NEW SURVEY COMING
The Hungarian Catholic Mission, located in Portola Valley, California is a vibrant community. Over the last 40 years we have seen so many good changes in the work we do for “Faith”, “Culture” and “Charity”. Unfortunately the demographic of our church is changing with the majority of our members being senior citizens. Remember I am still young at 75 and members like Aladar and Marta Szoboszlay still come to church on most weeks. Not bad for Aladar who resently turned 91. To preserve our community, we need to analyze our demographic makeup of our members, young and old, where they live, etc. The old are getting older and we need to bring in the younger generation of Hungarian-Americans to keep our Mission going for the next generation. I am very proud of the work you all do for our three tenants of Faith, Culture and Charity. I will be sending out an electronic census form that will also be handed out after mass. If you attend mass once a week or once a year, we would like to hear from you. Our members come from Northern and Southern California and we want to make sure we can keep in touch with you to preserve our Hungarian identity and culture. The American Census Bureau states that there are over 20,000 Hungarians living in the Bay Area. Wouldn’t it be great if we can reach out to 19,000 more Hungarians? In the upcoming months, we will be asking your input on how to reach our Hungarian brothers and sisters.
ANNUAL BENEFIT SAUSAGEFEST DINNER
As the Vice President of the Hungarian Catholic Mission, I would like to let you all know how successful our sausage fest was. We held the event on November 8th, 2014 which was dedicated to our proud ninety year old community. I only wish I can live to 90 and with a warm felt thank you, we wish a happy birthday to: Margo Szilasy, Aladar Szoboszlay, Erzsebet Tarczy and Katalin Szabo.
We had a great time singing the Hungarian birthday greetings with Balint Sapszon playing the piano. Later in the evening, we had the honor of pianist Balint Sapszon’s jazz program. We thank Balint for the marvelous performance. The full proceeds of the dinner will support our senior brothers and sisters in Hungary and Transcarpathia.
After the dinner. Erzsebet Tarczy Kovacs was presented a commemorative certificate of appreciation for her diligent work for Hungarian culture. She has sang one of her favorite songs with Father Henrik with the piano played by Balint Sapszon. Erzsike’s voice is still beautiful!
Father Maurusz also gave a speech about all the work done for the Hungarian Catholic Mission by Katalin Szabo and her husband Jozsef over several decades, and presented her with a certificate of appreciation and flowers. We congratulate and thank her for all her work! Father Maurusz and Timea Zentai thanked the members for their numerous acts of help, support and prayers for Ildiko Zentai. Ildiko was not able to make it to the dinner, but she was present in our hearts. We missed her cheerful voice, kind words, and helping hands. We wish her a speedy recovery and await her return to us.
We continued with celebrating the 20th anniversary of Father Maurusz leading the mission. Representing the mission, Eva Papai gave a speech appreciating the work of Father Maurusz, who is tirelessly leading our Hungarian community. He spends lots of work, energy and time in support of our mission. He continually helps our mission’s members, enriches our lives, and generously supports our mission’s initiatives. In the name of the mission, Eva presented Father Maurusz an engraved commemorative plaque. Our deepest thanks to Father Maurusz!
I am very blessed to also have received from Father Maurusz, a certificate of appreciation from the Consul General of Hungary in Los Angeles recognizing her 26 years of support to the Hungarian Catholic Mission.
After the celebrations the guests enjoyed the homemade sausages. Members of the mission have worked tirelessly in preparing the feast. This year the sausages were made again under the direction of master chefs Istvan Borbely and Arpad Kovacs. We also had plenty of help from members of the younger generation, who were learning the secret recipes of making sausages. Zoltan Egyed and his two sons, Adam and Mate were helping in the preparations with diligence and relish. We also had Gyuri Szilagyi, Balint Sapszon, Richard Szabados, Vojnik Larson, Arpad Racz, Jeno Racz Jr., Attila Danku, Father Henrik and Father Maurusz also helped in preparing the meats. The casings were washed by Reka Cseresznyes, Eva Papai and Father Henrik.
The women’s group on Friday night consisted of Erzsike Kelemen, Ildiko Kelemen, Teca Egi, Kristina Danku, Vojnik Durdiva, Reka Cseresznyes, Eva Papai and Timea Zentai. Our great thanks for Peter Agoston, the kitchen manager of the school, who has had a major part in preparing with Father Maurusz.
The dining hall was beautifully decorated. The host of the evening was Dr. Eva Voisin and her husband Paul with the cashiers being Eva Papai and Timea Zentai. Preparing the food could not have been done without the help of: Erzsike Berls, Rozsika Borbely, Erzsike Kelemen, Andi Szalay, Ildiko Szabados. Andi Bottyan, Magdolna Dunai and Erzsike Bakonyi were cutting the cake. Also serving of the food was done according to our traditions by the scouts, led by Arpad Racz and Gergo Nagy. Our thanks to the serving scouts: Bori Kozek, Orsi Kozek, Sami Nagy, Adam Egyed, Mate Egyed, Richard Szabados, Mike Szabados.
Much thanks to those baking the pogacsa, which was coordinated by Ildiko and Timea Zentai. Father Maurusz has organized a very successful raffle. The lucky winner received lots of beautiful and valuable gifts. Raffles were sold by Angelina Besze, Viktoria Lakos, Monika Lakos, Adam Egyed, Mate Egyed.
The main organizer and logistics person of the event was Father Maurusz, with the help of Eva Papai. This year we had almost 200 guests enjoying the dinner and celebrations in great spirits. Our heartfelt thanks to every guest and sponsor for the very successful evening, and to the member of the mission organizing and executing the event with the guidance of Father Maurusz.
Sincerely,
Eva Papai, Vice President of the Hungarian Catholic Mission
MEMORIAL MASS ON THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SERVIAN MASSACRE OF 1942
On November 30, 2014, a Memorial Mass was held in Saint Steven’s Basilica to remember the tragedy of the Serbian Massacre of 1942 by Hungarian forces. We must never forget our Christian background in denouncing genocide.
CHARITY
One of my goals is to keep everyone up to date of how we are doing in raising money to help Hungarians in need. Your contributions can make the difference. If you have not donated before, please click the following link: Donate Now.
For more information:
Please visit our Website: www.hungariancatholicmission.com
You can now find our Summer Bulletin in English and Hungarian. Please remember to send in your yearly contribution for your Membership to the Hungarian Catholic Mission.
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