This Interfaith Devotional program focuses on the prophecies about this Day, in which God’s latest guidance has been delivered to humankind through Baha’u’llah. These readings have been selected from various religious traditions. Please come and join us on Sundays at 9:30 am at the Beaverton Baha’i Center.
Opening Prayer
Magnified be Thy name, O my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day which is the King of Days, the Day which Thou didst announce unto Thy chosen Ones and Thy Prophets in Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day whereon Thou didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever hath set himself towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy voice.
I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by the name of Him round Whom circleth in adoration the kingdom of Thy names, that Thou wilt graciously assist them that are dear to Thee to glorify Thy word among Thy servants, and to shed abroad Thy praise amidst Thy creatures, so that the ecstasies of Thy revelation may fill the souls of all the dwellers of Thine earth.
Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh
First Reading
…Brother shall rise against brother. Oceans of blood shall flow. And the people shall cease to understand one another…. Just then shall the Teachers appear and in all the corners of the world shall be heard the true teaching…. As a diamond, glows the light on the tower of the Lord of Shabala [the Prophet of the New Age]. One stone on His finger is worth more than all the world’s treasures…. Already many warriors of the teaching of truth are reborn. Only a few years shall elapse before everyone shall hear the mighty steps of the Lord of the New Era….
Himalayan Buddhist prophesy, quoted in Warriors of the Rainbow, p. 40
… It is incumbent in this Day, upon every man to place his whole trust in the manifold bounties of God, and arise to disseminate, with the utmost wisdom, the verities of His Cause. Then, and only then, will the whole earth be enveloped with the morning light of His Revelation.
This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness. It behoveth them to cleave to whatsoever will, in this Day, be conducive to the exaltation of their stations, and to the promotion of their best interests.
Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh
Music
Music
Second Reading
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Judaism, Psalm 118:24
..From heaven We have sent down the blessed rain whereby We make the gardens grow, and grain of harvest and tall palm trees laden with clustered dates, in provision for men, thereby bringing again to life a land that was dead. Thus will be the Resurrection. He is the One Who sends to His Servant Manifest Signs, that He may lead you from the depths of Darkness into the Light, and verily God is to you most kind and Merciful.
Islam: Surahs 50:9-11; 57:9
This is the Day whereon the unseen world crieth out: “Great is thy blessedness, O earth, for thou hast been made the foot-stool of thy God, and been chosen as the seat of His mighty throne.” The realm of glory exclaimeth: “Would that my life could be sacrificed for thee, for He Who is the Beloved of the All-Merciful hath established His sovereignty upon thee, through the power of His Name that hath been promised unto all things, whether of the past or of the future.”
Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh
Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory. Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God’s Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless. O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, “the Kingdom is God’s”, may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.
Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh
Music
Music
Third Reading
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Judaism, Isaiah 2:2-4
The Supreme Lord said:…At the end of the millennium every material manifestation enters into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency I again create. The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will it is manifested again and again, and by My will it is annihilated at the end….I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of every thing, the resting place and the eternal seed….
Of letters, I am the letter A,…and of seasons, I am flower-bearing spring.
Hinduism: Quoted in Accents of God, pp. 20, 21, 27
How strange that despite this ringing Call, despite the appearance of this most wondrous Revelation, We notice that men, for the most part, have fixed their hearts on the vanities of the world and are sorely dismayed and troubled by reason of prevailing doubts and evil suggestions. Say: This is the Day of God Himself; …. This is the day that hath been illuminated by the splendours of the light of Our countenance–the Day around which all days and nights circle in adoration. Blessed is the man of insight who hath perceived, and the sore athirst who hath quaffed from this luminous Fountain.
Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh
Music
Music
Open Prayers
Music
Fourth Reading
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away….And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God…. The former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
The New Testament: Revelation of St. John 21:1-5
Closing Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Taken from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 1662.
- Cover – This is the Day
- Local Cover – This is the Day
- Program – This is the Day
- Readings – This is the Day
- Readings (rtf) – This is the Day
Photo by Christian Widell on Unsplash
