Seek peace and walk its path! (Psalms 34,15) motto, the autumn Youth Meeting in Nagymaros took place on Saturday, October 1st, at which Gergely Magyar OFM from Transcarpathia gave a lecture, those present could hear the testimony of Olympian fencer Pál Szekeres, and Hortobágyi, Archbishop of Pannonhalmi, presented the Holy Mass.
Instead of the drenched outdoor venues in Nagymaros due to the unusually rainy weather of the past few days, the programs of the meeting took place in the church, Szent Márton Kössössheit Ház and other indoor spaces, as the organizers had previously informed interested parties in a press release, including through the Magyar Kurír. Despite the harsh weather, many people came to the meeting, which spoke about the possibility of creating spiritual peace in the confusion of the world and our own unrest.
"In 1975, an American research group conducted a dangerous experiment: they flew into the middle of a hurricane. It was found that inside the cloud and air vortex that destroys everything around it, in the "eye" of the storm, there is complete silence" - this is the image that Nagymarosi Levél invited the young people to the October occasion.
The musical service of the meeting was provided by the band 3in1 from Káposztásmegyer and Jenő Sillye and his friends. The start of the day was started by 3in1 with the instrumental accompaniment of the common prayer led by the minor priests of Esztergom; the moderators of the programs were social sister Katalin Földváry and father András Balázs.
Benedek Dobszay OFM, a leading member of the Nagymaros organizing team, greeted the young people in the church. He said that after the Covid period, the organizers were really looking forward to this current meeting, which, however, unfortunately got stuck between the walls due to the rainy weather. "Let's leave it up to God to explain why this happened!" - said the monk, and then remarked: "In the beginning, the Nagymaros Youth Meetings could only be held in the church, so it's like going back to the beginning."
"It's okay if the circumstances are like this now, let's be here with an open heart, life can be born from this, even a vocation, or the release of an old grievance, or a good confession."
Benedek Dobszay encouraged those present. The spring Nagymaros was about the gifts of the Spirit, he said, and on the autumn occasion, "we face the confusion of the world, the fact of war, our injuries, our pains, and we are looking for the answer to what to do with this whole situation."
Magyar Gergely OFM (currently parish priest of several Subcarpathian settlements, head of the Subcarpathian mission for six years, previously Franciscan provincial chief for 11 years) relived the moment when he learned that he had to go to the Subcarpathian mission six months after the outbreak of war: "I felt that my mission will have something to do with peace.” Because peace does not come by itself, we have to work for peace, we have to deal with it - added the monk, and then he talked about what we can do for peace in times of war.
Magyar Gergely OMF/Source/Hungarian Kurír
We can do a lot for peace through our prayers and forgiveness, the monk continued. But in many cases, forgiveness does not happen immediately, it is a "beautiful work, a process" in which - for the pleasure of God - someone becomes good; the confessor is also happy when he sees that the confessor makes efforts, strives for good, does not give up, wants to do something. For example, he pleads for the other person who hurt him, practices non-violent communication "so that words do not become walls, but windows".
At the end of his lecture, OFM Gergely Magyar, looking at the chances of world peace, said: according to a Ukrainian psychotherapist (who spoke to Transcarpathian priests about helping people traumatized during the war), the war may end, but the traumas will not go away even after decades. "According to the catechism, peace will be realized with the coming of Jesus Christ", and until then, with each and every action that we use to control violence, we help peace, and not in a small way - Magyar Gergely OFM concluded his presentation.
After the main lecture, many faculties and workshops awaited the young people in Nagymaros.
Source and image: Magyar Kurír
