Fraternity-Testvériség, 1966 (44. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1966-05-01 / 5. szám
FRATERNITY 3 heritage, renders a tremendous disservice not only to the people of his ancestry, hut to this nation as well. One of the great presidents of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, said: “No one can he a good American citizen, unless he respects the traditions of the country of liis origin.” And to these words I say, “Amen'”. It was Samuel who said in I Samuel, chapter 7, verse 3: “Prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve Him only.” “H” stands for “Heart”. Any organization that does not have a heart is destined to oblivion. Is there a more beautiful and effective fruit of the heart than this fact, that in my knowledge, the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America is the only fraternal organization of its kind which maintains an Orphange and an Old People's Home. Heeding the biblical admonition that proclaims it is our solemn duty to take care of the orphans and the aged, thank God, that those pioneers who established this noble institution, prepared their hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him faithfully and well. So “H” stands for “Hungary” and “Hungarians”, “Heritage” and “Heart”. “R” stands for “Religion”. Above everything else, the most precious ingredient that Hungarians have in their hearts is a firm and unshakeable faith in God. Those who established the Federation came from a Calvinistic background, from the largest Reformed Church in the entire world. They came from a church in which respect and reverence have always been practiced. At the foundation for all respect is responsibility. We cannot .respect God, unless we respect our fellow-man, The greatest commandment which Christ gave us was that we should love God with all of our hearts, minds and souls, and we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Out of this background of gratitude towards God, this institution was established to serve God and our fellow-man. As it were, this is not only a commemorative service, but this service this afternoon is a service of thanksgiving, because without thanksgiving there can be no religion, no respect, no reverence and no responsibility. Without respect, reverence and responsibility we cannot really serve God. So “R” stands for “Religion”, “Respect”, “Reverence”, “Responsibility”. It was T. T. Munger who said: “Faith marches at the head of the army of progress; it is found beside the most refined life, the freest government, the most profound philosophy, the noblest poetry, the purest humanity.” Someone else said: “Faith is staking your life on the fact that there is a God.” It is
