Bethlen Almanac 2000 (Ligonier)
Keleti Egyházmegye - Eastern Classis
followed by Easter Worship and Holy Communion. Both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day were observed as we honored both living and deceased parents these two special Sundays. The summer of 2000 will long be remembered in the life of our Parish. We were invited to participate in the Spirit of Bethlehem Festival 2000. The featured country of 2000 was Russia. As your pastor, I had the wonderful experience of coordinating a cultural exhibit of our Church, St. John Capistrano Hungarian Roman Catholic Church, and Zion First Hungarian Lutheran Church. I prepared a brochure on the history of all three parishes. During this festival, we had the pleasure of hosting with St. John Capistrano, some of the students at Lehigh University’s Global Village Project. We entertained students from Hungary, Slovenia, Mexico, Greece, Czech Republic and Romania, to list a few. New friendships were created and hopefully, as some of the students return annually, we will renew our acquaintances during this annual event. November was my 10th anniversary as you pastor. The Sunday Worship Service was marked with special music from the choir members of Ss. Cyril And Methodious Slovak Roman Catholic Church, and Holy Infancy Roman Catholic Church, St. Joseph’s Windish (Slovenian) Roman Catholic Church, all under the direction of Ms. Mary Pongracz. This was a memorable event in my life, as well as in the life of our Church. On a more personal note, I have been very fortunate to have been named to the Board of Directors of two Bethlehem Agencies - The Spirit of Bethlehem Festival and the Bethlehem First Night New Year’s Eve Festival. I have also been elected the Vice President of the Bethlehem Murska Sobota Sister Cities Association. Murska Sobota is formerly known as Murat Szombathy in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a city in the Vas megye region, the iron producing region of present day Hungary. This is the region where my Hári grandparents were bom. Let us continue to remember that as we do to the least, the less fortunate, the naked, the hungry, the thirsty, the orphans and widows, and those in prison, we do it unto our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Even though we have had to say farewell to friends and relatives who have left this life to join loved ones in the next, we have had a relatively good beginning to a New Millennium 2000 and hope our Lord and Savior will be continue to be gracious to us in 2001. Let our Words and Actions be pleasing to Him. ... and let us all say “Amen!” Rev. Ronald R. Hári, Pastor Robert F. Csizma, Chief Elder 93
