fr-Chapter 14 - Christianity, churches and cults

III. The Era of Institutional Christianity

The Development of Christianity

1. After my departure in the "Second Era," my apostles continued my work, and those who followed my apostles carried on their work. They were the new workers, the cultivators of that field prepared by the Lord, made fertile by His blood, His tears, and His Word, and cultivated through the work of the Twelve Apostles and also by those who followed them. Yet, over time and from generation to generation, people increasingly mystified or distorted My work and My teaching.

2. Who told man that he might make an image of Me? Who told him that he should depict Me hanging on the cross? Who told him that he might create the image of Mary, the form of the angels, or the face of the Father? Alas, you people of little faith, who had to make the spiritual materially visible in order to feel My presence!

3. The image of the Father was Jesus; the image of the Master was His disciples. I said in the "Second Era": "Whoever knows the Son knows the Father." By this it is meant that Christ, who spoke in Jesus, is the Father Himself. The Father alone could create His own image.

4. After My death as a human being, I revealed Myself to My apostles as the Living One, so that they might recognize that I am life and eternity, and that I—whether in the body or outside of it—am present among you. Not all people understood this, and therefore they fell into idolatry and fanaticism. (113, 13-17)

5. I said to the woman of Samaria: "Whoever drinks of this water that I give will never thirst again." And today I say to you: If humanity had drunk of that living water, there would be no such great misery among them.

6. People did not steadfastly follow My teaching and preferred to use My name to found churches according to their own interpretations and convenience. I rejected traditions and taught them the doctrine of love, yet today you come to Me to offer Me empty rites and ceremonies that bring not the slightest benefit to your soul. If there is no spirituality in your works, there can be no truth in them, and what does not contain truth within itself does not reach your Father.

7. When that Samaritan woman felt that the light of My eyes penetrated to the depths of her heart, she said to Me: "Lord, you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one must worship our God." Then I said to her: "Woman, truly, I tell you, the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, as you do now. The time is drawing near when people will worship the Father 'in spirit and in truth'; for God is Spirit."

8. This is My teaching for all time. Behold, the truth was before your eyes, and you did not want to see it. How will you live it if you do not know it? (151, 2-5)

Rituals

9. If you love, you will have no need for ostentatious acts of worship or rituals, for you will have the light that illuminates your inner temple, upon which the waves of all storms that might lash you will break, and which dispels the dark mists of humanity.

10. Desecrate the Divine no longer, for truly, I tell you, great is the ingratitude with which you present yourselves before God when you perform these outward religious rituals that you have inherited from your ancestors and in which you have become fanatical. (21, 13-14)

11. Consider misguided humanity—misguided because the great churches that call themselves Christian attach more importance to ritual and outward forms than to My teaching itself. That Word of Life, which I sealed with works of love and with the blood on the Cross, no longer lives in the hearts of people; it is locked away and silenced in the old and dusty books. And so there is a "Christian" humanity that neither understands nor knows how to follow Christ.

12. That is why I have only a few disciples in this age—those who love their suffering brothers, who alleviate their pain—those who live in virtue and preach it through their example: these are the disciples of Christ.

13. Whoever knows My teaching and conceals it, or professes it only with the lips and not with the heart, is not My disciple.

14. I have not come in this age to seek out temples of stone and make Myself known within them. I seek souls, hearts, not material pomp. (72, 47–50)

15. As long as religious communities remain plunged in a deep slumber and do not depart from their accustomed ways, there will be no spiritual awakening nor recognition of spiritual ideals; and therefore, there can be no peace among people nor room for active charity. The light that resolves grave human conflicts will not be able to shine. (100, 38)

The Clergy

16. Since you do not know what true peace is, you content yourselves with longing for it, and you try by every possible means and in every conceivable way to attain a little peace of mind, comfort, and satisfaction, but never that which is truly peace of the soul. I tell you that it is attained only through the child's obedience to the will of the Lord.

17. The world lacks good explainers of My Word, good interpreters of My teachings. Therefore, humanity—even insofar as it calls itself Christian—lives in spiritual backwardness, because there is no one to shake them with My true teaching, no one to nurture hearts with the love with which I taught people.

18. Day after day—in parish halls, churches, and cathedrals—my name is spoken and my words are repeated, yet no one is moved inwardly, no one is shaken by their light, and this is because people have misunderstood their meaning. Most believe that the power of Christ's Word lies in mechanically repeating it over and over again, without realizing that it is not necessary to recite it, but rather to study it, reflect on it, practice it, and live it.

19. If people were to seek the true meaning in the words of Christ, they would find them ever new, fresh, alive, and relevant to life. But they know them only superficially, and so they cannot draw nourishment from them, nor will they ever be able to do so in this way.

20. Poor humanity—wandering in darkness, even though the light is so near, lamenting in fear, even though peace is within reach! Yet people cannot see that divine light, for there have been those who have mercilessly blindfolded them. I, who truly love you, come to your aid by freeing you from the darkness and proving to you that all that I told you in those days was meant for all time, and that you must not regard that divine Word as an ancient teaching of a bygone era. For the love that was the essence of all My teaching is eternal, and in it lies the secret of your salvation in this time of straying, immeasurable suffering, and unbridled passions. (307, 4-8)

21. I rebuke those who preach blind faith, a faith without knowledge, a faith acquired through fear and superstition.

22. Do not listen to the words of those who attribute all the evils that torment humanity—all plagues, famines, and epidemics—to God, calling them punishments or the wrath of God. These are the false prophets.

23. Turn away from them, for they do not know Me and yet wish to teach people what God is like.

24. This is the fruit of the poor interpretation given to the Scriptures of bygone times, whose divine language has not yet been discovered at the core of the human language with which the revelations and prophecies were written down. Many speak of the end of the world, of the Last Judgment, of death, and of hell without the slightest knowledge of the truth. (290, 16-19)

25. You are already living in the "Third Era," and yet humanity remains spiritually backward. Its spiritual leaders, its theologians, and its spiritual shepherds reveal very little—and sometimes nothing at all—to it about eternal life. To them, too, I reveal the secrets of the Book of My Wisdom, and so I ask you: Why do they remain silent? Why are they afraid to awaken the slumbering souls of humanity? (245, 5)

26. My teaching instructs you in a perfect, spiritual, and pure worship of the Father, for the human soul has—without realizing it—reached the threshold of the Lord's temple, where it will enter to feel My presence, to hear My voice through its spirit, and to behold Me in the light that descends upon its mind.

27. The emptiness that people feel in this age within their various religious communities is due to the fact that the soul hungers and thirsts for spiritualization. Rites and traditions no longer satisfy it; it longs to know My truth. (138, 43-44)

The Eucharist and the Mass

28. I have never come to people shrouded in mystery. When I have spoken to you in figurative terms to reveal the Divine to you or to represent the Eternal in some material form, it was so that you might understand Me. But if people persist in worshiping forms, objects, or symbols instead of seeking the meaning of those teachings, it is only natural that they remain stagnant for centuries and see mysteries in everything.

29. Since the time of Israel's sojourn in Egypt, when My blood was symbolized by that of a lamb, there have been people who live only by traditions and rites, without realizing that that sacrifice was a foreshadowing of the blood that Christ was to shed to give you spiritual life. Others, who believe they are nourishing themselves from My body, eat material bread without wishing to understand that—when I gave the bread to My disciples at the Last Supper—it was done to make them understand that whoever takes in the meaning of My Word as nourishment is nourished by Me.

30. How few are those who are truly able to comprehend My divine teachings, and these few are those who interpret them with the Spirit. Consider, however, that I have not handed over the divine revelation to you all at once, but that I explain it to you little by little in each of My teachings. (36, 7-9)

31. There is joy in the hearts of these crowds of listeners, for they know that before their spirit lies the heavenly banquet where the Master awaits them to give them the bread and wine of true life to eat and drink.

32. The table around which Jesus gathered with His apostles at that time was a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven. There the Father was surrounded by His children; there were the foods that represented life and love; the divine voice resounded, and its essence was universal harmony; and the peace that reigned there was the peace that exists in the Kingdom of God.

33. You have sought to purify yourselves in these morning hours, thinking that the Master would bring you a new Testament through His words, and so it is: Today I permit you to commemorate the bread and wine with which I represented My Body and My Blood. Yet I also tell you that in this new age you will find that nourishment only in the divine sense of My Word. If you seek My body and My blood, you must seek them in the divine essence of creation, for I am only Spirit. Eat of that bread and drink of that wine, yet also fill My cup; I wish to drink with you: I thirst for your love.

34. Carry this message to your brothers and learn that blood, since it is life, is only a symbol of eternal life, which is true love. Through you, I begin to enlighten humanity with my new revelations. (48, 22-25)

35. I bring you peace and a new teaching. Just as My sacrifice of the "Second Era" abolished the sacrifice of innocent animals that you offered on the altar of Jehovah, so today the nourishment of My divine Word has brought about that you no longer symbolize My body and My blood through the bread and wine of this world.

36. Every soul that wishes to live must be nourished by the Divine Spirit. Whoever hears My Word and feels it in his heart has truly been nourished. He has not only eaten My Body and drunk My Blood, but has taken of My Spirit to nourish himself.

37. Who, after having tasted this heavenly food, will seek Me again in images and forms made by human hands?

38. From time to time I come and do away with traditions, rites, and customs, leaving in your spirit only the Law and the spiritual essence of My teachings. (68, 27)

Baptism

39. People, in his time, John, who is also called the Baptist, baptized with water those who believed in his prophecy. This act was a symbol of purification from original sin. He said to the crowds who came to the Jordan to hear the words of the Forerunner: "Behold, I baptize you with water, but He who will baptize you with the fire of the Holy Spirit is already on His way."

40. From this divine fire all spirits were born; they emerged from it pure and spotless. But if, on their journey, they have been defiled by the sin brought about by disobedience, the fire of My Spirit pours out upon them anew to blot out their sin, erase their stains, and restore to them their original purity.

41. If, instead of understanding this Spiritual Baptism as a purification that man attains through an act of sincere repentance toward his Creator, you transform it into a ritual and content yourselves with the symbolic meaning of an act—truly, I tell you, then your soul will gain nothing.

42. Whoever acts in this way still lives in the times of the Baptist, and it is as though he had not believed in his prophecies and words, which spoke of Spiritual Baptism, of the divine fire through which God purifies His children and makes them immortal in the light.

43. John called people to him as adults to pour that water upon them as a symbol of purification. They came to him when they were already aware of their actions and could already have the firm resolve to remain on the path of goodness, righteousness, and justice. Behold how humanity has preferred to perform the symbolic act of purification through water rather than true renewal through repentance and the firm resolve to improve, which are born of love for God. The ritual act requires no effort; on the other hand, purifying the heart and striving to remain pure does indeed require effort, self-denial, and even sacrifice on the part of the individual. That is why people have preferred to cover up their sins outwardly, contenting themselves with the observance of ceremonies, certain acts, and rites that do not in the least improve their moral or spiritual condition unless their conscience is involved.

44. Disciples, this is why I do not want ritual acts to take place among you, so that by performing them you do not forget what actually affects the soul. (99, 56–61)

45. It is I who send souls into incarnation in accordance with the Law of Evolution, and truly, I tell you, the influences of this world will not alter My divine plans. For above all ambitious striving for power, My will shall be done.

46. Every human being comes to earth with a mission; his destiny is predetermined by the Father, and his soul is anointed by My Fatherly love. It is in vain that people hold ceremonies and bless the little ones. Truly, I tell you, in no material lifetime will water cleanse the soul of its transgressions against My law. And if I send a soul pure of every sin—from what defilement, then, do the clergy of the denominations cleanse it through baptism?

47. It is time for you to understand that the origin of man is not sin, but that his birth is the result of the fulfillment of a law of nature—a law fulfilled not only by man but by all creatures that make up nature. Note that I have said "man" and not "his soul." Man has My authority to create beings like himself; the souls, however, proceed only from Me.

48. To grow and multiply is a universal law. The stars emerged from other, larger stars just as the seed multiplied, and I have never said that by this fact they sinned or offended the Creator. Why, then, should you be considered sinners for fulfilling this divine commandment? Understand that the fulfillment of the law can never defile man.

49. What defiles man and leads the soul astray from the path of development are the base passions: licentiousness, vice, and fornication, for all these are against the law.

50. Study and seek until you find the truth. Then you will no longer call the commandments of the Creator of life a sin, and you will sanctify the existence of your children through the example of your good works. (37, 18-23)

Remembrance of the Dead

51. People cling to their traditions and customs. It is understandable that they have an indelible memory of the people whose bodies they have laid to rest, and they are drawn to the place where they buried their remains. Yet if they were to delve into the true meaning of material life, they would realize that upon its dissolution, that body returns, atom by atom, to the realms of nature from which it was formed, and life continues to unfold.

52. But because of a lack of study of the spiritual, man has at all times created a chain of fanatical cults centered on the body. He tries to make material life imperishable and forgets the soul, which is what truly possesses eternal life. How far they still are from understanding spiritual life!

53. Now you understand that it is unnecessary to bring offerings to those places where a gravestone, which expresses "death," should instead express "dissolution and life"; for there nature is in full bloom, there is soil that is the fertile and inexhaustible womb of creatures and life forms.

54. When these teachings are understood, humanity will know how to give the material its proper place and the divine its own. Then the idolatrous worship of those who have gone before will disappear.

55. Man should recognize and love his Creator from spirit to spirit.

56. The altars are mourning wreaths, and the tombs are evidence of ignorance and idolatry. I forgive all your transgressions, but I must truly shake you awake. My teaching will be understood, and the time will come when people will replace material gifts with lofty thoughts. (245, 16-21)

Material symbols, crosses, and relics

57. In the "First Era," you knew the symbols: the tabernacle or sanctuary that sheltered the Ark of the Covenant, in which the tablets of the law were kept. When those symbols had fulfilled their purpose, My Will removed them from the earth, hiding them from human sight so that the world would not fall into idolatry; but I left the meaning or essence of those instructive symbols written in the minds of My servants.

58. In the "Second Era," after Christ's sacrifice was accomplished, I caused the supreme symbol of Christianity—the cross—to disappear, along with the crown of thorns, the chalice, and everything else that could have become an object of fanatical veneration on the part of humanity. (138, 36)

59. Humanity saw Jesus suffer, and you believe in His teaching and His testimony. Why continue to crucify Him in your sculptures? Are the centuries you have spent displaying Him as a sacrifice to your wickedness not enough for you?

60. Instead of commemorating Me in the torments and agony of Jesus' death—why do you not commemorate My resurrection, full of light and glory?

61. There are some who, upon seeing your images depicting Me in the form of Jesus on the cross, have at times believed that He was a weak, cowardly, or fearful man, without considering that I am Spirit and that, as an example for all humanity, I endured what you call sacrifice and what I call the duty of love.

62. When you reflect that I was one with the Father, remember that there were no weapons, no powers, and no tortures that could have broken Me; yet when I suffered, bled, and died as a human being, it was to give you My sublime example of humility.

63. People have not grasped the greatness of that lesson, and everywhere they have erected the image of the Crucified One, which is a disgrace to this humanity that—without love or respect for Him whom they claim to love—continually crucifies Him and wounds Him daily by hurting the hearts of their fellow human beings, for whom the Master gave His life. (21, 192 15-19)

64. I would not condemn you if you were to remove from the earth itself the last cross with which you symbolize your Christian faith, and in its place replace that symbol with true love for one another; for then your faith and your outward worship of God would become a worship and a faith of the spirit, which corresponds to what I expect of you.

65. If only your religious services and your symbols had the power to prevent your wars, to keep you from sinking into vice, to preserve you in peace. But see how you trample upon everything that, according to your own words, is holy; see how you trample underfoot what you have held to be divine.

66. I tell you once more: It would be better for you if you had not a single church, not an altar, not a single symbol or image on the whole earth, but if you knew how to pray with the Spirit and love your Father, and were able to believe in Him without the need for intermediaries, and if you loved one another as I have taught you in My doctrine. Then you would be saved, and would walk the path marked by the traces of My blood—traces with which I sealed the truth of My teachings. (280, 69-70)

Veneration of Saints

67. I give you these teachings because you have declared the souls of many righteous people to be saints, whom you pray to and venerate as if they were gods. How much ignorance, humanity! How can people judge the holiness and perfection of a soul based solely on its human works?

68. I am the first to tell you that you should take as your model the good examples your brothers have set through their works, their lives, and their virtue; and I also tell you that when you think of them, you may hope for their spiritual assistance and influence. But why do you erect altars to them that serve only to offend the humility of those souls? Why do you create cults around their memory, as if they were the Deity, and place them in the place of the Father, whom you forget in the midst of venerating your own brothers? How painful has been for them the fame you have bestowed upon them here!

69. What do people know of My judgment regarding those whom they call saints? What do they know of the spiritual life of those beings or of the place each has earned with the Lord?

70. Let no one think that with these revelations from your hearts I wish to erase the merits that My servants have earned among men—on the contrary, I want you to know that the grace they have found with Me is great, and that through their prayers I grant you many things; but it is necessary that you dispel your ignorance, from which religious fanaticism, idolatry, and superstition spring.

71. When you feel that the spirit of those beings reigns over your world of life, trust those who are part of the Spiritual World, so that you and they, united in the way of the Lord, may accomplish the work of spiritual brotherhood—that work which I expect as the result of all My teachings. (115, 52–56)

Church Festivals

72. On this day, when crowds of people rush to their churches with great shouting to celebrate the moment when heaven opened to receive Me, I tell you that all of this is merely a tradition designed to impress people's hearts. They are merely rituals that today give tangible form to My divine Passion.

73. You must not follow this tendency by setting up altars and symbols. Do not create depictions of sacred events, and do not wear special garments to draw attention, for all of this is idolatrous worship.

74. Call upon Me with your hearts, recall My teachings, and follow My examples. Offer Me the tribute of your improvement, and you will feel the gates of Heaven open to receive you.

75. Avoid the false and profane depictions made of Me and My Passion, for no one can embody Me. Live by My example and My teachings. Whoever acts thus will have embodied their Master on earth. (131, 11-13, 16)

76. Humanity: In these days when you commemorate the birth of Jesus, let peace enter your hearts and appear as a united and happy family.

77. I know that not all hearts feel sincere joy when they commemorate My coming into the world at that time. Very few are those who take time for reflection and contemplation and allow the joy to be an inner one, and for the feast of remembrance to take place in the spirit.

78. Today, as in all times, people have turned days of remembrance into profane and meaningless celebrations, seeking pleasures for the senses, far removed from what the joys of the spirit should be.

79. If people would use this day to dedicate it to the spirit by reflecting on divine love—the irrefutable proof of which was the fact that I became human to live among you—truly, I tell you, your faith would shine forth in the highest part of your being, and it would be the star that would guide you on the path leading to Me. Your soul would be so imbued with goodness that on your life's journey you would shower the needy with kindness, comfort, and warmth. You would feel more than brothers and sisters; you would forgive your offenders from the heart. You would feel filled with tenderness at the sight of the outcasts, those children without parents, without shelter, and without love. You would think of the peoples without peace, where war has destroyed all that is good, noble, and sacred in human life. Then your prayer would rise up to Me in purity and say to Me: "Lord, what right do we have to peace as long as there are so many of our brothers and sisters who are suffering terribly?"

80. My answer to that would be this: Since you felt the pain of your fellow human beings and you prayed and showed compassion, gather together in your home, sit down at the table, and rejoice in that blessed hour, for I will be present there. Do not hesitate to be joyful, even though you know that at that very moment there are many who are suffering; for truly, I tell you, if your joy is sincere, a breath of peace and hope will flow from it, touching those in distress like a labor of love.

81. Let no one think that I wish to extinguish from your hearts the purest feast you celebrate throughout the year when you commemorate the birth of Jesus. I only wish to teach you to give to the world what is due to it, and to the soul what is due to it; for if you celebrate so many feasts to honor human events—why do you not leave this feast to the soul, so that, having become a child, it may come to offer Me its gift of love, so that it may attain the simplicity of the shepherds to worship Me, and the humility of the Magi, to bow their heads and offer their knowledge before the Lord of true wisdom?

82. I do not wish to dampen the joy that surrounds people's lives during these days. It is not merely the power of a tradition—it is because My mercy touches you, My light illuminates you, My love enfolds you like a cloak. Then you feel your heart full of hope, joy, and tenderness, filled with the need to give, to experience, and to love. Yet you do not always allow those feelings and inspirations to find expression in their true generosity and sincerity; for you squander that joy in the pleasures of the world, without allowing the soul—for whose sake the Savior came into the world—to live through that moment, to enter into that light, to be purified, and to be saved. For that Divine Love, which became human, is eternally present on the path of life of every human being, so that he may find life in it. (299, 43-48)

The Presence of God Despite False Forms of Worship

83. Since man is materialistic, he must seek Me through tangible worship, and since the eyes of his spirit are not open, he must create an image of Me in order to see Me. Since he has not made himself spiritually sensitive, he always demands material miracles and proofs to believe in My existence, and sets conditions for Me in order to serve Me, follow Me, love Me, and give Me something in return for what I give him. Thus I see all the churches, all the religious communities, all the sects that people have created throughout the earth. They are permeated by materialism, by fanaticism and idolatry, by secrecy, deceit, and desecrations.

84. What do I accept of this? Only the intention. What reaches Me of all this? The spiritual or physical need of My children, their little bit of love, their longing for light. This is what reaches Me, and I am with all of them. I do not look upon churches, nor upon forms, nor upon rites. I come to all My children equally. I receive their soul in prayer. I draw them to My breast to embrace them, so that they may feel My warmth, and this warmth may be an incentive and a spur on their path of trials and trials. But just because I accept humanity's good intention, I do not have to allow it to remain forever in darkness, shrouded in its idolatry and fanaticism.

85. I want humanity to awaken, for the soul to rise up to Me and, in its ascent, to be able to behold the true glory of its Father and forget the false splendor of liturgies and rites. I want that, when they attain their true ascent, they may be renewed, free themselves from human needs, and overcome sensuality, passions, and vices, and find themselves; so that they may never say to the Father that they are earthworms; so that they may know that the Father created them in His image and likeness. (360, 14–16)

86. There are many religious communities on earth, and the majority of them are founded on faith in Christ. Yet they do not love one another, nor do they recognize one another as disciples of the Divine Master.

87. Do you not think that if they all understood My teaching, they would have put it into practice by leading the denominations toward reconciliation and peace? Yet this was not the case. They have all kept their distance from one another, thereby spiritually dividing and setting people against one another, who then regard each other as enemies or strangers. Everyone seeks means and arguments to prove to the other that they alone possess the truth and that the others are mistaken. Yet no one has the strength or courage to fight for the unity of all, nor does anyone have the goodwill to recognize that there is some truth contained in every religious belief and in every form of worship. (326, 19–20)