Only the "living word" can animate and keep the Reformed Christian community together, Reformed bishop Zoltán Balog said on Saturday in Budapest, at a meeting of ministers from Hungary and the Highlands, at the opening of the year of the living word announced for 2024 in the Reformed Church.
According to the organizers, all the Reformed bishops of the Carpathian Basin and almost a thousand Reformed pastors from the Carpathian Basin took part in the meeting. Zoltán Balog, the Pastoral President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church, emphasized in his greeting: a truly Christian church is where the "living word unites us", MTI reported.
Reformed Bishop Zoltán Balog, the Pastoral President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church, gives a speech at the meeting of Hungarian and Highland pastors, at the opening of the year of the living word announced for 2024 in the Reformed Church in the Groupama Arena on January 27, 2024. MTI/Robert Hegedüs
The participants of the meeting came together because they cannot and do not want to live without the living word and each other.
"We seek the blessing of common prayer, common reading, common understanding and action"
- said the reformed bishop. Zoltán Balog explained: the pastor's vocation is "not a small stress test", as they have to say the words "inspired by the spirit of God" over and over again, while they make budgets, prepare confirmands, and raise children.
"There is no greater vulnerability than receiving the living Word as a tool and as a pledge of our existence"
- he said, since the living word, Jesus Christ, can never be possessed, it can never be "ticked off", you always have to fight for it. But the power of the living word can change the realities of the world and "place us in God's reality, opening the door to salvation," said Zoltán Balog. Among the witnesses at the event were the President of the Republic Katalin Novák, Reformed bishop József Steinbach, academic Veronika Ádám and László Trócsányi, rector of the Károli Gáspár Reformed University.
The President of the Republic, Katalin Novák, said that she found her faith as an adult. He recalled that at the age of 35 he felt his life was round, and it was "round. It just wasn't in the middle." With the found faith, "my vision has changed", added the head of state, who thanked his family, the Hungarian Reformed community and the entire Hungarian nation. In his testimony, László Trócsányi, the rector of the Gáspár Reformed University of Károli, spoke about the double bond of the Reformed university, that it teaches both the divine and the human word. József Steinbach, the bishop of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District of MRE, said: the miracle of Christian testimony is that whoever listens to the witness, listens to Jesus Christ.
The President of the Republic, Katalin Novák, gives a speech at the meeting of the pastors of Hungary and the Highlands, at the opening of the year of the living word announced for 2024 in the Reformed Church in the Groupama Arena on January 27, 2024. MTI/Robert Hegedüs
In his testimony, András Visky, a writer from Cluj, spoke about "love", because, as he said, he was not only born out of love, but "love also gave birth to him as a believer".
"I was surrounded by people in love who, instead of keeping to themselves, covered up the absurdity of historical necessity with their mere existence"
he said. These people fell hopelessly in love with the eternal who returned their love. "I noticed," he added, that out of love they tirelessly turned their other faces to those who beat them.
Veronika Ádám, a doctor with the Széchenyi Award, spoke about:
who - like him - lives in the world of ratio, asks questions throughout his life and expects answers from science. However, when a person asks the questions of his own life, he can no longer rely on science. When he asks "who am I?" and "what is my place in the world?", he is looking for God, even if he does not know. And the person asking about himself suddenly realizes that he is not alone, someone encourages him to ask, and in order to find answers, he also gives him a book: the Bible.
At the meeting, the Károly Dobos Award, which can be given to Reformed pastors who serve primarily in small settlements, was presented. The recognition was received by András Ősz, pastor of Rétközberencs, for his service in the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county settlement since 1986.
Featured image: Reformed bishop Zoltán Balog, the pastoral president of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church, gives a speech at the meeting of Hungarian and Highland pastors, at the opening of the year of the living word announced for 2024 in the Reformed Church in the Groupama Arena on January 27, 2024. MTI/Robert Hegedüs
