And so the One Year Plan 1 2 begins. Its purpose and requirements have already been set out in our message sent on the Day of the Covenant; 3 this Plan, though brief, will suffice to prepare the Bahá’í world for the Nine Year Plan 4 that is to follow. A period of special potency, which opened one hundred years after the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan 5, will soon close with the centenary of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 6 marking the conclusion of the first century of the Formative Age 7 and the start of the second. The company of the faithful enter this new Plan at a time when humanity, chastened by the exposure of its vulnerability, seems more conscious of the need for collaboration to address global challenges. 8 Yet, lingering habits of contest, self-interest, prejudice and closed-mindedness continue to hinder the movement towards unity, despite growing numbers in society who are showing in words and deeds how they, too, yearn for greater acceptance of humanity’s inherent oneness. 9 We pray that the family of nations 10 may succeed in putting aside its differences in the interests of the common good. 11 Notwithstanding the uncertainties that shroud the months ahead, we entreat Bahá’u’lláh to make the confirmations that have sustained His followers for so long more abundant still, that you may be carried forward in your mission, 12 13 your composure undisturbed by the turbulence of a world whose need for His healing message is ever more acute.

The Divine Plan enters a new epoch and a new stage. 14 The page is turned. 15

  1. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2018 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20180421_001/1#169140600. [return]
  2. Universal House of Justice. “The One Year Plan 2021-2022: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.” Palabra Publications, April 2021. https://bahaiwritings.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/the-1-year-plan-final-w-cover.pdf [return]
  3. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076430. [return]
  4. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2020 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20201125_001/1#300076439. [return]
  5. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Tablets of the Divine Plan. 1959. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/tablets-divine-plan/1#531491243. [return]
  6. Universal House of Justice. “29 December 2015 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20151229_001/1#135178049. [return]
  7. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. 1944. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970, 322. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/1#337700484. [return]
  8. Universal House of Justice. “24 September 2000 – To All National Spiritual Assemblies.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20000924_001/1#362530582. [return]
  9. Universal House of Justice. “Naw-Rúz 177.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20200319_001/1#122183928. [return]
  10. ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 156-157. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/12#061171967. [return]
  11. Universal House of Justice. “26 March 2016 – To the Bahá’ís of the World Acting under the Mandate of ‘Abdu’L‑Bahá.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20160326_001/1#233234227 [return]
  12. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Tablets of the Divine Plan. 1959. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976, 42. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/tablets-divine-plan/12#939542304. [return]
  13. Effendi, Shoghi. The Advent of Divine Justice. 1969. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1971, 13. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/advent-divine-justice/2#950117553. [return]
  14. Universal House of Justice. “9 January 2001 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 28, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20010109_001/1#433355316. [return]
  15. Universal House of Justice. “Riḍván 2021 – To the Bahá’ís of the World.” Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed April 20, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20210420_001/1#583854197. [return]