The second week of February is known in many nations around the world as the Week of Marriage. The initiative, meant to encourage people to see the positive impacts of a strong marriage and also take time to work on their own marriage, now takes place in twenty-one countries around the world. The RCH takes a look at the origins and current interpretations of this exciting time.
In 1997, a married couple, Richard and Maria Kane, dared to dream big and launch their “Week Marriage project” in the United Kingdom. The initiative, which started nearly two decades ago, according to their website, is a campaign which seeks to highlight the benefits of healthy marriage to society, media and governments, whilst seeking to educate and inform couples regarding the benefits of an ever improving relationship, largely through church based events and media coverage. When Valentine Day is coming we surely know that it won’t come alone: the Week Marriage will be its faithful partner in every second week of February. Today, the program is present in twenty-one countries all around the world and the international organization’s goal is to extend this number to seventy-five by 2021.
It is the ninth year that the Week of Marriage, with the cooperation of Christian churches and civil organizations, has been organized in Hungary. The nation-wide event’s purpose is to have a week when marriage gets the spotlight. Seven days for everyone: for the ones who are living in strong and stable marriage, to encourage them to be an example in their own environment; for those who struggle with problems to give them a compass which shows that they are not alone; and furthermore, for the ones who are just before marriage, presenting them with the notion that the union is not an old foggy idea, but the greatest thing that can happen between two people who are in love.
The official opening ceremony of the week took place at the Reformed Church of Fasori-Budapest on February 7. God’s words were preached by János Tóth and were based on 1 John 4:18-19: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” The pastor emphasized that we are individuals in front of God as a man and as a woman, and we should take Him to the first place in our relationships. The pastor spoke of how God loved us before we born, and there is no greater love than this for it was before we hurt each other, before our problems; and this is the relationship that could blow away our fears. A fearless love that helps us to solve our difficulties; this is an opportunity to love with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The Hungarian Evangelical Alliance, the Hungarian Catholic Family Association, The Marriage and Family Counseling Ministry of RCH, the Biblle Marriage Counseling Ministry, the Woman Mission of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary , The Family Service of the Baptist Church in Hungary, The Bible Speaks Church’s Counselor Service of Marriage, the Family Service of the United Methodist Church in Hungary, the Harmat Publishing Company and the Family Magazine are the main contributory organizations in the committee of the arrangers.
The Hungarian program a unique feature in that every year a pair undertake the ’ambassador’ responsibilities of the Week. In 2016, Endre Hegedűs – a Kossuth- and Liszt-Awarded pianist – and his wife, Katalin Hegedűs, also an accomplished pianist, are the faces of the campaign whose personal testimony was also shared during the opening ceremony. They love each other, but the only way to survive their 37-year “mission impossible”, they said, is the presence of God in their marriage, who is always the third person in every field of their life. In addition, Anita Herczegh, wife of the Hungarian President of the State, is a patron of the program from 2013.
The committee of organizers, beyond their informative function, also encourages local communities to set up their own events. In this year there are more than 200 lectures and cultural programs which will help to draw attention to the importance of marriage and the family. There is no excuse for skipping out on the exciting events of the week because the variety of the programs is quite wide. For example, in Upper Hungary the local pastor has a “Silence day” where all generations, regardless their age and the status, can play, pray and partake in a meal together in celebration of God.
On the official website of the Week of Marriage in Hungary, there is an interview with the Hegedűs couple. In it, they say that, “We are ’give-and take’ people, we don’t like to feed our anger. To make it, it is not an easy process: it requires the personal decision that I don’t want to destroy my partner, but I want to love her. We got intellect for using that. A marriage works when we guide it with the mind as well as the emotions. (…) There is no love without pain. There is no existing that I used to love her, but for now I don’t, because that means I have never loved her truly. Love is timeless, because God is love. We have to return back to this love!”
László Lilla
Sources:www.hazassaghete.hu www.reformatus.hu