Message from Universal House of Justice to Bahá'ís of the U.S. (July 2020)

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

On 22 July 2020, the Universal House of Justice addressed the attached letter to the Bahá’ís of the United States, and it is now also accessible on the Bahá’í Reference Library website. The National Spiritual Assembly and the Counsellors studied the message together this weekend and though we know that it has already been widely circulated, we wished to share it with you directly as well, and through you with all the friends. Please arrange for its widest possible distribution in your communities.  

The truths in this message about the nature of prejudice and how change is accomplished are as applicable to the Canadian context of cultural and racial prejudice as they are to conditions in our sister community of the United States. In its 10 July 2020 call for a devotional gathering in every household involved in the community-building work in Canada, the National Assembly noted that these spaces provide an opportunity for meaningful conversation. As the attached message so powerfully conveys, it is these intimate conversations between enkindled souls that release the powers of love, “create new susceptibilities in human hearts, open minds to moral persuasion, and loosen the hold of biased norms and social systems so that they can gradually take on a new form in keeping with the requirements of humanity’s age of maturity. You are channels for this divine love; let it flow through you to all who cross your path. Infuse it into every neighborhood and social space in which you move to build capacity to canalize the society-building power of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation. There can be no rest until the destined outcome is achieved.” 

This herculean effort, placed in the context of the framework of the Plan by the House of Justice’s letter, is already underway. Thrilling news has reached us of the widespread, immediate response to the call for a new wave of prayer and meaningful conversation that draws thousands into the community-building work, fuelled by the empowering instrument of the training institute. We urge the friends — individually, in their families and among groups of friends — to study the 22 July letter and allow it to enrich every aspect of the mighty endeavour before us in this “final year, of the final Plan, in a series spanning the final quarter of the opening century of the Formative Age”.[1]  The National Assembly’s prayers surround them.  

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF CANADA
Karen McKye, Secretary

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Suspension of Pilgrimage and Brief Visits to the Holy Land

Dear Bahá'í Friends,

We are writing to share with you a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies dated 12 March 2020 regarding the suspension of pilgrimage and brief visits to the Holy Land.

The Universal House of Justice has been following closely the evolving global health crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and for some time the Department of Pilgrimage has been advising prospective pilgrims and visitors about the rapidly changing restrictions being imposed on travellers by the government of Israel. The current situation and the escalating measures being taken by governments and airlines have now necessitated the suspension of pilgrimage and brief visits to the Holy Land until such time as circumstances permit them to resume.

The House of Justice regrets that many friends who were planning to visit the World Centre of the Cause will be affected by this suspension, but it hopes that they will, before long, be able to fulfil their hearts' desire.

Kindly assure the friends in your communities of the supplications of the House of Justice at the Sacred Threshold that Bahá'u'lláh's unfailing assistance and strengthening grace may surround them as well as their compatriots and that all those affected by this outbreak may be sheltered beneath the canopy of His watchful care.

With loving Bahá'í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary

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Travel Advisory for Iran

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Federal government officials have asked for our assistance in disseminating the following information, published on travel.gc.ca, to Canadian Bahá’ís of Iranian origin. At the present time, individuals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Iran, one reason for which is the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in that country. The website also recommends that travellers currently in Iran who plan to return to Canada should make every effort to do so by commercial means while it is still possible, “as it is becoming increasingly difficult to leave the country. Many airlines have suspended or reduced flights to and from Iran”. Additional information is available and updated frequently at https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/iran#entryexit and https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/travel-health-notices/217.

We are confident that the friends are already conscious of the special risks that such travel has always held for them as Bahá’ís and are well aware of the current situation.  Nonetheless, we seek your assistance in distributing this letter to your communities, to ensure that it reaches the Persian friends without delay.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary

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Compilation on Prayer and Devotional Life

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Dear Bahá’í Friends,

We are very happy to share with you the attached newly-released compilation on prayer and devotional life; kindly arrange for its wide distribution. It is also available in the compilation section of the Bahá’í Reference Library.  A French version will be circulated as soon as one is available.

In its covering letter dated 28 February 2019, the Department of the Secretariat of the Universal House of Justice shared the following about this compilation:

“As the friends intensify their efforts to pursue the last Plan of the series of Plans that end in 2021, a year that marks the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the inauguration of the Formative Age, signs of the enrichment of the devotional life of the community are manifest. Devotional activities are everywhere multiplying and are increasingly being integrated into the core of community life. To add further stimulus to this signal development and to help the friends take full advantage of the period of special potency during which the bicentennial anniversaries of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh and of the Báb are commemorated, the Universal House of Justice has directed us to enclose a compilation of extracts on prayer and devotional life drawn from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and from the letters of the Guardian and the House of Justice.

“It is the hope of the House of Justice that this compilation, prepared by the Research Department at its request, will be studied widely and will be of assistance to individuals, families, and communities as they strive to evoke the spirit of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in the creation of occasions where any soul may inhale the divine fragrances, experience the elevating power of prayer, and be drawn together with others in fellowship and common cause.”

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Karen McKye, Secretary