![\"\"](\"https:\/\/online.tenrikyo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/\u3054\u8a95\u751f\u796d-1024x576.jpeg\")
At 9:35 A.M., Rev. Daisuke Nakayama and other Service performers left the Staff Quarters and proceeded to the Main Sanctuary after paying their respects at the Foundress\u2019 Sanctuary and the Memorial Hall. In the meantime, the Shinbashira\u2014who is recuperating\u2014proceeded to the Main Sanctuary from the north side of the East Corridor to join in worshiping together inside the partition bars in the South Worship Hall.<\/p>\n
In the Service prayer, Rev. Nakayama said: \u201cAll of us Service performers as well as church head ministers and other Yoboku will take this opportunity today to return our thoughts to the path that Oyasama demonstrated cheerfully despite going through various challenging situations. We are determined to devote our utmost sincerity to spreading the fragrance of the teachings and helping save others in unity of mind with a renewed awareness of our roles and positions so as to respond to Your parental love.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prayer was followed by the joyous performance of the Kagura Service, after which the Shinbashira and his wife, Harue, as well as Successor-Designate Nakayama and his wife, Nobue, proceeded to the Foundress\u2019 Sanctuary to serve a meal to the everliving Oyasama. In the meantime, the Dance with Hand Movements was performed in high spirits.<\/p>\n
Following the Service, Honbu-in Umeo Izutsu took the podium to deliver the sermon. In his sermon, Rev. Izutsu spoke about how the fifty-year Divine Model is entirely and consistently imbued with Oyasama\u2019s parental love\u2014Her desire to save all people and to help Her beloved children grow to spiritual maturity. \u201cThat same parental heart of Oyasama . . . continues to watch over us even now and will continue to protect us into the future,\u201d said Rev. Izutsu, adding, \u201cIt is precisely in response to that parental heart that we must now make firm resolutions and take decisive steps toward our spiritual growth.\u201d He then said, \u201cTo administer the Sazuke and be encouraged to engage in salvation work, I believe, is a precious way for us to respond to Oyasama\u2019s parental heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toward the end of his sermon, Rev. Izutsu said: \u201cLet us give our utmost effort and work wholeheartedly so that we may repay the boundless blessings we have received from Oyasama. Let us carry out our anniversary-related activities brightly and spiritedly by taking action with all our strength and sincerity so that we will have no regrets later.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the sermon, Successor-Designate Nakayama returned to the Foundress\u2019 Sanctuary to read a prayer to Oyasama. After extending words of celebration, he said, \u201cAs we enter the final stage of the pre-anniversary activity period, all of us followers are determined to further deepen our joy and awareness of serving as Your instruments, respond to Your boundless parental love, and thereby make steady progress in our endeavor to walk the path of single-hearted salvation in complete accordance with the Divine Model.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cJoyous Chorus\u201d then took place in the Inner Courtyard, creating a celebratory ambiance. The event was cosponsored by the Women\u2019s Association, the Young Men\u2019s Association, and the Boys and Girls Association.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At 9:35 A.M., Rev. Daisuke Nakayama and other Service performers left the Staff Quarters and proceeded to the Main Sanctuary after paying their respects at the Foundress\u2019 Sanctuary and the Memorial Hall. In the meantime, the Shinbashira\u2014who is recuperating\u2014proceeded to the Main Sanctuary from the north side of the East\u2026<\/p>\n