From
Yoichi Okada, Kyoshu
Masaaki Okada, Successor of Kyoshu
Birth of the Messiah Service
Observing a major world holy day where the glory of the Lord shines
Not long ago, as we announced to all of you in “Regarding Observance of Holy Days in Our Church,” in the same way we observe significant events like the day that Meishu-sama received the divine revelation of the Transition from Night to Day and also held the Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah on June 15, and the day of Meishu-sama’s birth on December 23, we will also observe the three major holy days of Christianity—Easter, Pentecost and Christmas—as holy days of our Church.
In the same vein, we noted that Meishu-sama’s Birthday Service taking place at the end of this year will be celebrated, for the first time in our Church history, together with the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas.
In line with this, Meishu-sama’s Birthday Service taking place at the end of the year has been renamed to “Service for the Births of Meishu-sama and Jesus Christ.” From next year on too, we will essentially carry out the service with that name.
This year in 2022 marks Meishu-sama’s 140th birthday anniversary. Being an auspicious year, we would like to celebrate, together with members all around the world, the births of Meishu-sama and Jesus Christ under the following name:
Service for the Births of Meishu-sama and Jesus Christ
Special Ceremony to Celebrate Meishu-sama’s 140th Birthday Anniversary
On June 15 of this year, together with all of you, we were allowed to hold the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah, 68 years after Meishu-sama held the Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah on June 15, 1954. With Meishu-sama’s will in mind when he said that World Church of Messiah will become extremely close to Christianity; that he wished to save all of humanity and lead it in the right direction by working in concert with Christians using all his heart and soul; and that “in the West, there is Christ. In the East, there is Messiah. If these two major forces work in concert with each other—one in the East, the other in the West—and if all members of the two powers diligently fight for peace, eternal peace will surely be brought about,” we were allowed to pledge to Meishu-sama, all together, to serve that will with our whole body and soul. There was no greater joy for us than this.
We are thinking about how the service on June 15 from next year on is to be named.
For many years, we designated the service on that day as “Paradise on Earth Service.” However, Meishu-sama himself never once actually used the name “Paradise on Earth Service.”
The last service on June 15 that took place under Meishu-sama’s leadership was called “The Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah.”
When we think about “paradise on earth,” we know about the calligraphy that Meishu-sama wrote, “Paradise on earth exists in my heart” or “Paradise exists at the center of my heart.” And in the Sacred Word “The uniqueness of the salvation of our Church,” he said, “To save people into heaven, you must climb up to heaven first and become its resident. Then you can pull everyone up to heaven and bring them salvation.” He also said, “It is more than clear that the will of God is to make a copy of heaven as the first step in constructing a paradise on earth. But let me say this. It is not only copies, but each human being also must become a resident of heaven, or rather, the time has come when a human being can become its resident.”
In other words, Meishu-sama dedicated his energy into constructing the sacred grounds, and his purpose for that, as he said in his Sacred Word, was to have each and every single human being climb up and return to the heaven existing within each one of them and become a “resident of heaven.”
At the same time, in his final years, Meishu-sama was born anew as the Messiah and showed us the model of a “resident of heaven”—it is precisely this Meishu-sama who should be called a prototype of a paradise on earth.
In 1953, that is, about a year before Meishu-sama was born anew as the Messiah, the construction of the Hakone Shinsen-kyo Sacred Grounds was completed. In regard to it, he said:
In this sense, the recent completion of the Shinsen-kyo Paradise on Earth means that at the center of the world, a paradise on earth has finally been born, that is, it is the birth of a paradise on earth. And it is a most auspicious event since the beginning of the world—it will be commemorated as a major world holy day for all eternity. This day, June 15, will be the future “Birth of Paradise on Earth Service.”
“The deep significance of the Shinsen-kyo Paradise on Earth,” July 8, 1953
However, Meishu-sama did not stop there.
In his own Sacred Word, he said, “It is more than clear that the will of God is to make a copy of heaven as the first step in constructing a paradise on earth. But let me say this. It is not only copies, but each human being also must become a resident of heaven.” As he said, the construction of “copies,” what we call the “sacred grounds,” is only the first step in constructing a paradise on earth—what Meishu-sama was truly aiming for, through and through, was for each and every human being to become a resident of heaven.
And how mysterious it is! Just as the Sacred Word said, Meishu-sama himself left behind the first step of the birth of a copy, the completion of the copy, and went on to the second step. Meishu-sama showed us what it means for a human to be born when he himself was born anew as the Messiah, when he was born as a child of God.
Meishu-sama showed us how to go from the first step, “The sacred grounds is a paradise on earth,” to the second step, “A human being is a paradise on earth.”
The Birth of Paradise on Earth Service. What truly is to be born is not a copy, but a human being. In 1954, the year after the copy was born, Meishu-sama himself was born as a prototype of a paradise on earth. One can gather the deep meaning behind why Meishu-sama chose to use the word birth in the name of the aforementioned service.
What kind of existence is the human being that is born as a paradise on earth?
It is the existence of Messiah, a child of God.
That is to say, “Birth of Paradise on Earth Service” can be rephrased as “Birth of the Messiah Service.”
That is precisely why he changed the service name to “Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah,” which took place on June 15, 1954, after he himself was born anew as the Messiah, even though Meishu-sama expressed his wish to name the service “Birth of Paradise on Earth Service” in 1953.
Of course, because Meishu-sama said, “It is not only copies, but each human being also must become a resident of heaven,” it is still not a true celebration if only Meishu-sama was born anew as the Messiah. Isn’t this why he used the phrase “Provisional Ceremony”?
If human beings, in other words, all of humanity, not just himself, can awaken to the truth that humans are to be born anew as residents of heaven, that is, be born anew as Messiahs, the actual Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of Messiah can take place—with this fervent wish for us, Meishu-sama used the word provisional in “Provisional Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah.” We cannot help but think like this.
And this year, we who were allowed to realize this wish of Meishu-sama, even if belated, were permitted to hold the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah on June 15, as the day commemorating “a most auspicious event since the beginning of the world—it will be commemorated as a major world holy day for all eternity.”
Now that our thoughts have gone to this will of Meishu-sama, we believe that for June 15, it is no longer fitting to hold the service with the name “Paradise on Earth Service.”
Instead, as “Birth of Paradise on Earth Service” is a service that commemorates the birth of the Messiah, “Birth of the Messiah Service” is far more fitting—no, Meishu-sama is wishing for it. This, we cannot help but feel.
Accordingly, from the next year forward, we would like to hold the “Paradise on Earth Service” as the “Birth of the Messiah Service.”
The Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah was “a most auspicious event since the beginning of the world.” However, Meishu-sama also says that this day “will be commemorated as a major world holy day for all eternity.”
In other words, not only this year, but next year, the year after that, three years later, ten years later, one-hundred years later too, all of us are to celebrate this day with grandeur, June 15, when the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah was held.
In regard to this service next year, as it marks the one-year anniversary of the Grand Ceremony to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah, we have determined the following name.
Birth of the Messiah Service
Celebrating the One-Year Anniversary of the Grand Ceremony
The year after that, 2024, the Birth of the Messiah Service will be one that marks the 70th anniversary since Meishu-sama was born anew as the Messiah.
If Meishu-sama was not born anew as the Messiah and did not announce that matter to us, World Church of Messiah would not exist now, nor would we ever know about needing to work in concert with Christians. We would still be lost and wandering in the dark.
We would like to hold the Birth of the Messiah Service in 2024 with deep gratitude to the one who saved us from that fate, to Meishu-sama, a child of God.
We are deeply grateful that we are able to go forward with courage, together with members all around the world, to the very fore, to the very depth of Meishu-sama’s will.
May all glory be to God.
