Jesuit priest, theologian, and poet Ferenc Szabó presented his diamond mass in the Heart of Jesus Church in Budapest on August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Sixty years ago, in 1962, exactly then, he was ordained a priest in Brussels by Calcutta Archbishop Ferdinand Périer SJ.
Concelebrated with the celebrated were Balázs Bábel, Archbishop of Kecskemét-Kalocsa, Lajos Varga, Auxiliary Bishop of Vác, and the Jesuit monks, led by Provincial Chief Elemér Vízi.
At the beginning of the Mass, Elemér Vízi expressed his joy that on this significant day, the feast of the transfiguration of our Lord, we can celebrate Father Feri Szabó's sixtieth anniversary of his ordination as a priest together. The Provincial of the Hungarian Jesuits recalled the outstanding intellectual service of Father Ferenc Szabó, which he performed at the head of the Hungarian broadcast of the Vatican Radio for twenty-five years, and later as the editor-in-chief of Távlatok, author of books and poems. This Mass is a thanksgiving to God for all this.
Ferenc Szabó, celebrating his diamond mass, interrupted his long hospital treatment and presented the ceremony in a wheelchair. Although he was physically weak, his eyes radiated serenity, as if he did not give up for a single moment his long-term hope in providence. He thanked God for the many, many graces that he had heaped upon him during his long life, his sixty years of priesthood and seventy years of Jesuit life, and he asked those present, his "dear friends", to do the same. At the same time, he thanked those present for celebrating with him.
You are also a gift to me, friendship is God's greatest gift," he said, adding: he prays for those who prayed to the Lord during his long hospital stay for his recovery and relief of his suffering.
In his homily, Archbishop Balázs Bábel of Kalocsa-Kecskemét explained that every Holy Mass somehow leaves time, as it takes us back to the hall of the Last Supper and Calvary. We also say that the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus is "brought" into the present. Mass is also linked to time in another way, we keep track of when we were first communicants, when we were confirmed, and a priest has an outstanding memory of his new mass, then the years pass, he reaches the silver and gold masses, but only very few are worthy of the diamond mass. Anyone who achieves this can say: there were many difficulties and trials in his life. "Dear Feri,
you came here from Calvary itself, from the hospital bed, with many kinds of suffering behind you, which in itself makes human life difficult"
said the head pastor.
The archbishop of Kalocsa-Kecskemét recalled: for his sixtieth birthday, Father Feri wrote a poem entitled You were born to fly: "In my dreams I flew many times..." You can't fly with one wing, only two wings - explained the head pastor. In the life of Ferenc Szabó, one of the wings was theology, the desire for God, the science of God, and everything related to it, including church history. The other wing includes literary history, poetry, meeting people of the spirit. We read about Solomon in the Book of Kings that he had three thousand speeches and fifteen hundred songs. He could talk about everything. Ferenc Szabó is like that too. A lot of people these days don't read as many books as he wrote. Today's Catholic, older and more mature believers got to know Ferenc Szabó of the Diamond Mass above all through the sound of the radio. The heyday of Vatican Radio was the twenty-five years when he hosted the Hungarian broadcast.
P. Ferenc Szabó SJ at the diamond mass/Source: Magyar Kurír
He opened the window to the world church, II. The Vatican Council, the theological struggles, and in the oppressed times of that time - when the publishing of church books was very limited in Hungary - we could find out what others thought about the world, theology, and literature.
"You did this, so we thank and give thanks to the Good Lord for giving you the talent, the life situation and the way to trumpet all this to the world through Vatican Radio."
Balázs Bábel added: when the Lord Jesus came down from the mountain, he spoke about the suffering that awaited him. Only once did he take the disciples up to Mount Tábor, the place of the transfiguration, and gave them a taste of what salvation is like, but he often talked about how much he would have to suffer, be captured, crucified, but always added: he would rise again on the third day. Yes, this is our life, and as we move forward on the way of the cross, it will become more and more difficult to bear, but because we truly believe, our way is quite different.
Even in trials, we must always feel that the Lord is with us, and we want to be with him.
Source: full article and image: Magyar Kurír
