Calvin Synod Herald, 2004 (105. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 9 guests were well received. He always had a set table, friendly reception, and kind words for the ministers and healing words for the discouraged and sad. It was hard to say good-bye to a host as he was, he encouraged you to stay for a longer time. Friend - When I wanted to continue writing this meditation, I accidentally picked up a red pencil, as if one needs to write about a friend with bold red letters. It is hard to find this gem of a person, there are not too many of this kind. It is a pleasure to have a close friend, it is pity if he is far away. The true friend loves you all the time - we read it in the Bible. True friends are rare, just as a real pearl, a black diamond, and a precious opal. He was a rare friend. I told him once, “We are not related or sons-in-law, so we have all the possibilities to be good friends.” May the Lord give us such friends as Dr. Szabó was. God’s Servant - Dr. Szabó was a real servant of Göd. He knew: Glory to God. He knew who his Father was and he knew how to be a son. He served His Lord, he preached His Word, he built His Kingdom. He called family, friends, and strangers to come closer to the Father. He was on the homeward way all the time. During his service he experienced a great sadness when his beloved wife Margaret returned to the Father’s house. We give thanks to the Lord that He sent him another loving wife in Violet, who took care of him as he approached the sunset. We give thanks to the Lord for Dr. Szabó, for this great man with these words: Do you not know that a prince and great man has fallen this day? (2 Sam. 3:38) The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. (Lam. 5:15,16) Do you think that I finished my eulogy about Dr. Szabó? There is so much more to say and it is impossible to tell everything about him in a few minutes or to describe him in short. You cannot build a pyramid or cathedral in a few minutes, I just wanted to give you the highlights of this great man who worked among you, with you, and for you for sixty years. Once people were admiring a statue in front of the carver. They asked him how he was able to carve out this statue. He answered: “On my knees, praying. ” Dr. Szabó knew from the Bible how to be great. "... Whoever would be great among you must by your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave... ” (Matthew 20:26-27) and “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. ” (Matthew 10:39) Dr. Szabó finished his service upon this earth and returned to the Father’s House. Let us ask our merciful Father to receive his son and to give him the palm of victory and the crown of life. And all of you and all of us, brethren, let us follow him in the footsteps of Jesus for a long time, together, and with all our heart, ‘till on our homeward way we reach the gates of our destination, the portals of our Father’s House. Amen. Rev. Dr. Francis Vitéz Translation of the original Hungarian Meditation Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen Szabó, Bishop Emeritus 1902-2004 Dr. Stephen Szabó was born on September 6, 1902 in Üllő, Hungary to Stephen Szabó VI and Elizabeth Boda. After the sudden death of his young father in a railroad accident, his mother married Gabor Tobias whose young wife died in a typhoid epidemic. She left behind a son, Frank, and a daughter, Nina. The three children were raised together in perfect harmony. He finished his elementary education in Budapest and Jászberény; his middle school education in Miskolc, and three years of theological studies in the Seminary of Sárospatak. He received a Dr. Good scholarship to the USA where he spent four years in post-graduate studies. He received a B.D. degree from Central Seminary in Dayton, OH and was ordained by the Reformed Church in the USA in 1927. He received a S.T.M. degree from Western Seminary of the Presbyterian Church USA in Pittsburgh, PA in 1928, and an M. A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh in English Language and Literature in 1929. During this time, he served as the minister of the Middletown, OH Hungarian Reformed Church for 2 years and at the Daisytown, PA Hungarian Reformed Church for 2 years. He returned to Hungary and passed the required post-examinations and was re-ordained by the “Tiszaninnen Synod” of the Reformed Church in Hungary. He served as an assistant minister to the Bishop in Miskolc from 1929 to 1934 and on the invitation of Bishop László Ravasz, he served in Budapest as Professor of Religion ‘elected for life’ from 1934 to 1941. In 1935 he received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Debrecen. After the short-lived return of the Carpathian section to Hungary in 1940, he was elected to the pastorate of the Reformed Church in Ungvar. The Reformed Church of Hungary officially delegated him in 1941 to go to the USA for one year as a Special Envoy ‘with lull power’ to the Hungarian Reformed Church bodies to help them with the proposed union undertakings. The uniting meeting under his presiding was held on Labor Day 1941 in Ligonier, PA with great success as an official document was signed by all the leaders and was printed and published by the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America. The attack on Pearl Harbor
