Burial homily for Laszlo Nagy, Jan. 15, 2005

 

A Weeping Cardiologist

 

Introduction

A prodigal son

The Good Samaritan is the mother of all parables. After that comes the parable of the Prodigal Son. It’s the old story of the journey of all our lives—a journey which twists and turns. In the parable the younger of two sons grabs his share of the inheritance and takes off for a foreign land. There he gets lost squandering his money and himself on this and that. He finally comes to his senses and return to the house of his father. On arriving home his father greets him with much relief, affection and forgiveness. The father says to his older son, who’s jealous now because of the attention given his renegade brother, “Let’s rejoice and celebrate because this brother of yours and this son of mine was lost, and now we’ve found him. Let’s rejoice and celebrate especially because this brother of yours and this son of mine, who was lost, has finally found himself.

 

The two parts of his life

Mr. Nagy’s life was divided into two parts, the one part when he was lost, and the other part when he had found himself. Mr. Nagy’s life was divided into two parts, the one part when he was looking for someone, and the other part when finally he found the one he was looking for. Mr. Nagy’s life was divided into two parts, the one part when his name was Louie, and the other part when his name of Lazslo—the name given him by the one he finally found.

 

A stern wedding homily

These two poor church mice, Mr. Nagy (who was still Louie at the time) and Elizabeth, were bonded together in holy matrimony on the 16th of February, 1980 in the church of St. Benedict the Moor.  I remember the sober and almost stern tenor of my wedding homily that day. I was sort of shaking a finger at Louie and saying something like, “You went all the way to Hungary to fetch this gem and bring her here to a foreign land, now you better do her justice!”

 

He didn’t need any scolding from me at all. He had found the one he was looking for, and he was superabundantly ready to do her justice. In the pursuing twenty-five years he did her supreme justice, and she, in turn, did the same for him. It was truly a marriage forged in heaven. For twenty-five rich and beautiful years they showered each other with”honey bunch this and honey bunch that.” Not the “honey” that some married couple use to cover up the fact that their marriage has gone sour. The “honey bunch” of these two was the real thing. And when it’s the real thing the pain of loss is quite mountainous.

 

They called everybody else “honey” as well, and everybody got to love them. In recent years Laszlo and Elizabeth made many trips to the hospital. Nurses, technicians, scrub ladies, surgeons and specialists got to know them well and love them very much.
Early the morning after the day Laszlo died, the cardiologist (a specialist in the human heart) called
Elizabeth. Being a specialist also in the human hearts of Laszlo and Elizabeth, whom he had gotten to know on many visits, he called to express his sorrow. He couldn’t do it without breaking into tears!

  

Conclusion

Be strong

With time these two poor church mice prospered and built themselves a palace in New Berlin. They had, indeed, come a long way from the old St. Benedict the Moor days. Now the palace is empty. It won’t be easy for you, Elizabeth. But Laszlo now asks you to be strong, just as you said he was strong when he left his palace on the 10th of January for the last time, never looking back for what might be a last look, but also looking forward with hope. And all of us, Elizabeth, now ask you to be strong. By all means weep, dear Elizabeth, but also be strong. You’re not really alone in a foreign country far from family. For you have here a huge family of friends who love you as that cardiologist does.