Calvin Synod Herald, 2010 (111. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2010-05-01 / 5-6. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 9 News from Bethlen Communities Dear Friends! If you are visiting Ligonier, we will be happy to give you a Grand Tour of our beautiful facilities: the new Bethlen Home, the Ligonier Gardens, the renovated old building that houses the Cultural Center, the Laurel Valley Senior Center, the Home Health, Hospice as well as the Chaplain’s Office. Come and see the retirement village, with a million dollar view of the entire Ligonier Valley. It has been a busy time for us over the past several months. Recently, our dedicated Cultural Center personnel prepared 250 decorated hearts (mézeskalács szivek) for all our residents and employees. Right now, we are preparing to participate in the Pittsburgh International Festival. Also, many family members and visitors participate in our regular Sunday Worship Service. And I extend a personal invitation to you as well. Our regular Sunday Worship Schedule is: Bethlen Home - English Worship at 10 AM; Hungarian at 11 AM. in the Linden Room. Ligonier Gardens - English at 1:45 AM and Hungarian at 2:45 PM. Bible Study - is held each week in both homes. The Bethlen Communities’ Worship Services follow the Lectionary, so on Feb 17 we held an Ash Wednesday service and we set the Lord’s table for the Lord’s Supper for the first Sunday in Lent which was Feb 21. In addition to our regular Sunday Worship Services, we also had the following events recently: Mar. 5 - we remembered The World Day of Prayer. Mar. 15 - we commemorated the Hungarian heroes of 1848. Mar. 13, Saturday - we participated in the Central Classis Meeting at the Pittsburgh Church. Mar. 17 - our residents will celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Mar. 27, - Saturday - there was an Easter Egg Hunt. Mar. 28 - we observed Palm Sunday. Apr. 4 - we celebrated Easter. The new 2009 edition of the Bethlen Almanac is available for only $10. Please call my office to order (724-331-6575) or e-mail me gnitschfa bethlen. com A Mother’s Tears and Laughter On Mother’s Day we are reminded of the hardships that so many mothers had endured while raising their family. There is a touching short story, Seven Pennies, written by the Hungarian author Zsigmond Móricz in 1907, who portrays the plight of one mother of his time. The author describes a mother and her young son one late afternoon. She had no work and no money. It was time to wash the clothes for the family but there was no soap in the house and one bar of soap cost seven pennies. So she searched the house for the pennies - one coin after the other. She looked everywhere: in her purse, in the kitchen cabinet, in the drawer, in her husband’s clothes pockets, until finally she found six pennies but could not locate the seventh penny. But just then, a beggar came to the house, asking for alms, and with much apology the mother explained to that fellow human being her own distress. Having taken compassion on her he offered her the seventh penny. But by then it was too late to go out to buy the soap - there was no light in the house to wash by. After the poor fellow departed she burst into laughter and with tears in her eyes continued laughing until she almost suffocated. The author, writing in the first person, ends the story with these words: “She laughed so hard, it took her breath away. A fierce, murderous fit of coughing shook her body. She swayed on her feet and buried her face in her palms, and as I drew close to support her, I felt something warm dripping down my hands. It was blood, her precious, hallowed blood, that of my mother, who could laugh so heartily as few people can — even among the poor.” This story so vividly describes the abject poverty and harsh realities of life one hundred years ago, and should remind all of us of the destitute economic and living conditions of millions of families across Europe, including in Hungary. It gives us a graphic rationale why countless millions have been coming to this land of promise over a long period of time, a movement that represents the greatest permanent migration of peoples in human history. We should be thankful to our mother, grandmother or great-grandmother for leaving such deplorable conditions behind, thus securing a more promising future for those who grow up in this land. Only the ones who are able to appreciate the bread-crumbs, are the ones who have seen the end of the loaf, when there was no more bread or money to buy some - anywhere. Rev. László Kovács (Ret.) Professor Emeritus Again, we invite you to please come and visit! You can also visit us online at www. bethlen. com Rev. Gabor G. Nitsch Chaplain and Director of Pastoral Care Bethlen Communities !
