653- Does worship require outward expression?
“True worship comes from the heart. In all your actions, always remember that the Lord is watching you.”
– Are outward worship forms useful nonetheless?
“Yes, if they are not a vain pretense. They are always useful for setting a good example, but those who practice such forms of worship only out of affectation and vanity, belying their appearance of piety, set a bad example rather than a good one, and they do more harm than they can imagine.”
654- Does God have any preference for those who worship in this or that manner?
“God prefers those who sincerely worship from the bottom of their heart, doing good and avoiding evil, to those who think they honor God through ceremonies that do not render them any better than their neighbor.
“All are brothers and sisters, children of the same God, and God calls all those who follow the divinely established laws, whatever may be the form in which they express themselves.
“Those who only put on an appearance of piety are hypocrites; those for whom worship is only a pretense that is contradicted by their actual conduct set a bad example.
“Those who profess to worship Christ, but who are proud, envious and jealous, who are hard and unforgiving toward others, or who are ambitious for worldly things, I declare to you that their religion is on their lips only and not in their heart. God, who sees everything, will say: Those who know the truth are a hundred times guiltier of the evil they do than the unknowing nomad in the desert, and they will be treated accordingly on judgment day. If a blind person passing by you accidentally knocks you down you forget about it, but if it is a person whose sight is perfect, you rightly take offense.
“So do not ask if there is one particular form of worship that is the most acceptable, since that would be like asking whether it is more pleasing to God to be worshipped in one language rather than in another. I will say to you once more: hymns do not reach God except through the door of the heart.”
655- Is it wrong to practice a religion that is not believed in from the bottom of the heart if it is done out of human respect and in order not to offend those who think differently?
“As in so many other things, the intent is the rule. Those whose sole aim is to show respect for the beliefs of others do no wrong; in fact, they do better than those who would ridicule such beliefs, since that would show a lack of charity. However, those who practice a religion out of ulterior motives or ambition are contemptible in the sight of God and humankind. God could not be pleased with those who only put on a show of humility in order to gain the approval of others.”
656- Is group worship preferable to individual worship?
“Those who assemble for communion of thought and sentiment have more power to attract good spirits, and the same applies when they gather to worship God. But do not think that individual worship is therefore less effective, for each individual can worship God with divine thoughts.”
Site Espírita 