Lord’s messenger I have become

Robi Szikora, the well-known Hungarian pop singer mainly feels himself a messenger, whenever his Ambassador’s duties to the International Eucharistic Congress are mentioned. Over the last thirty years the singer, performing artist is going to the Holy Mass every single day. Whenever he is on to getting the Holy Communion, he is thinking of Jesus Christ, who suffered so greatly on his behalf as well, and who loves the humankind with the ever existing greatest love. As to Robi Szikora, Church music should smoothly melt into the 2000 years old rhythm of the liturgy.

- How does it feel to be the Ambassador to the International Eucharistic Congress??

It is said I’m an Ambassador, though I prefer to be called as a messenger. We carry the news around on the event the very same way as Archangel Gabriel did once. The honour touched me as if I’ve never been put on standby, though you feel that the team needs you. The Church badly needs all the valuable and credible persons. I’m the laymen amongst the lay persons, better say I’m just a simple brick of the living Church. It has always been a special joy, whenever I was invited for a testimony into a church. These times I did loved talking to many people, to the ones wondering what I know about my relationship with God. Many of them knew me as a musician only. They were aware of my success and my name, but had never heard about this other side of mine. Just by my appearance I was judged otherwise. I was identified upon my hits.

- Do you think that your religious side can get along with your hits?

My sound recordings always included some short, one minute songs. I do love short songs. These songs are sounded exactly the way as they came out right from my heart. These “songs, resulting from my faith” were put on tape when I was on the move. I’ve never showed them around, but whenever a new album was going to be released, I’ve always put one on it. Thus, along with the big show a “flying pray” pops up, that I hoped would reach the ones who were to be to be achieved.

- Do you think of becoming a bridge figure through your art?

Well, I have never been thinking to whom should I address my songs, the churchgoers or others? I was happy to note that my audience had the chance to listen to something that was coming from the very deep of my heart. There were times when the Holy Mass was celebrated in Latin, and at the end of it the priest said “Ite missa est”, that was to say: “you have a mission”. This was absolutely meant for me. I am the messenger of Lord. Whenever a new album was out to be released I was desperately trying to figure out which song should be the gem of the new album, since I did not want to mix up the eternal with the quickly passing away ones. I felt, that a great mistake would be to skip these tiny credos. Europe has become a missionary territory.

- As the messenger of the International Eucharistic Congress, what does the Eucharistic mean in your personal life?

Everything. It’s all in here. Let’s see the thanksgiving. I definitely dislike ungratefulness. Whom we all got everything from, we have to thank for. My entire life is from God. It is from Him I’ve received the sport, the music, my love, who is still my wife. My father’s heritage, the patriotism, the Church closeness, all are still alive in me. Some of the received gifts are real charisma or talents themselves. These you do not have to learn, since you know them already. It is thirty years by now that each day I participate the Holy Mass. Throughout these years, it happened only once –due to illness- that I could not attend.

Whenever I meet the Eucharistic, it is absolutely not sure that each time one is overwhelmed by elementary feelings. As I should stir up my heart even during a less significant concert to give the best of myself, the very same happens at each communion. Sometimes very week, dry spiritual periods hit me, but this is not a problem. Though, it is good to work you up, just be clear for yourself, why to queue along with old Grammies in the Church while taking the communion. Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ was spat on, was tortured and crucified, is now coming to you with all his love. That is the moment when you discover that you are the Church of the Holy Spirit. If you approach Christ, all the unclean disappears from you. You yourself is enough for Jesus. The way he loves us is an inconceivable love.

- How can you comply the transient earthly life with the eternal values, both of which appear in your songs?

I do not have any ambivalent feeling relating thereto. We always pass through constant changes.

- Have you experienced such transformation recently?

No, nothing has happened that would have upset my life. What can set apart you from Christ’s love? Father Balázs Barsi always told me, that nothing worth to get excited the way that might turn us inside out. This messenger duty makes me feel good, it’s as simple as that. I frequently go out to the Ecseri market. It is so good to experience that people stop me, express their delight and congratulate to the fact that “I’m going to serve the Church”. Naturally, they don’t really know what such a mission comes along with. They have a certain idea, and that something is going on with me and with the Church. Something is about to happen. Somewhere deep in the depths Christianity is still smouldering. Our great-grandfathers’ faith is inherited genetically at least. Faith might emerge again in the new generation. Not even a single child of the times has ever been abandoned by God.

- He hasn’t given up on you…

Yes, it’s true. Five days after my birth, my mother was sent home from the MÁV hospital obstetrics department, and on the way home my grandmother stopped at the Jézus Szíve parish Church of Rákospalota, so that to baptize me. That time, the Sunday Holy Mass was under strict surveillance by the AVH, the then State Protection Office. They perfectly knew who was present or who was absent. Stalin was still alive in 1953. This was an extremely hard period. As we are getting older we start to understand the meaning of the Sacrament of Baptism in our life. I could not have received more. It was far more important than getting water or milk. No mother asks her new-born baby if breast milk would do any good, she just naturally gives everything necessary for life. This is the same with the baptism. None of my entire family was so much religious as my grandmother was. However, by the baptism I have been implanted into God’s life. I became a member of a community, even if I did not exercised it and did not understand this incredible gift

- Later on, have you been reassured of it?

No, not at all, but it was not a coincidence that one day I entered that very Church of Siófok. That was the place when the Holy Spirit “grabbed” me the first time. Afterwards I converted many times, since this is a path together with God. But there in the cool silence of the Church I met God for the first time. This was followed by radical decisions. Many many things had to be removed from me.

- What did you have to take off from yourself?

Oh, there was a lot. First of all, the 18 years old singer’s semi divine awareness, when one thinks of having just been descended from Olympus. Thus the Holy Spirit taught me humility. There in the Church there was no one else, only God and me. I started to pray. A prayer is nothing else but a sudden cry from down of the earth. When you are perfectly aware of being hopeless, and you do not want, even you are unable to cling on to anyone else but God only. You have to cry out, just as Jesus cried on the Cross. “Thank you, forgive me, I love you” – these were the words I repeated for hours again and again.

- Do you intend to use your art to add something to the Eucharistic Congress?

This is obvious. Though I have been asked to be an Ambassador, I’m still a musician. I have composed a musical on Saint Elisabeth’s life. I’ve been working on it for 15 years by now. Previously I was not thinking on it, but now I could easily picture to put on show the life of such a significant Hungarian saint.

- Don’t you think that you are going to face disadvantages due to your confession of faith?

Should I be a liberal one, I would have never been retaliated for such. But being a “heterosexual Christian”, that’s what I would expect. But Jesus has never told us to be helpless and defeatist. We cannot remain silent!

- Can our local Christian pop-music fill this role?

I do not really know anything of such kind of music. Lousy bands, with poor song lyrics are playing in the Churches. Such music were played back in the 60’s. It is unbelievable that 6 pimply-faced teenage guitarists are playing the very same simultaneously, without the slightest orchestration. This might be fine around a campfire only. It is absolutely not enough to stay at the level of repeatedly singing “hallelujah, hallelujah”! This kind of music has no place in a Church. The Holy Mass liturgy has a 2000 years old rhythm. I do not like when either “great organists” or small guitar bands are adding their own pompous music garnish instead of being modest while paying attention to the essential. Surely there could always be exceptions, but this Church pop-music should be well developed. These songs should be well sounded as well, the lyrics have to be appropriate, and all should be performed by good singers in harmony with good voices. In general these elements are missing from the Church performances, though I do not know the finest top of the genre. What we would need here is the quality of the performance. Most likely not even the title or the name of the genre is appropriate, since we do have music and performers, who are calling God with their art. Each of the participants will confess God where they actually are and perform.

Interview: András Gável

Source: vasarnap.hu