The thought above is by Sérgio Barros de Castro (photo), who has worked as a civil servant at the Brazilian Senate for the past 38 years. He is from Belém do Pará, in the north of Brazil, but settled in the capital, Brasilia, in 1977. He was born into a Spiritist family and has been for many years an active volunteer worker of the Comunhão Espírita Spiritist Centre, helping families implement the Gospel in the Home and working on study groups, mediumship groups and as a public speaker. He has studied the Bible in depth and is currently teaching a course on Spiritism and the Scriptures. 

How was your first contact with Spiritism?

I was born into a Spiritist family and, with the grace of God, I was able to accept with ease its principles and postulates. My father was a Spiritist speaker and I used to go along with him to many of his talks in several Spiritist Centres. Every time we did the Gospel in the Home, my father also read passages from the New Testament along with The Gospel According to Spiritism. That’s how I learned to like the Bible and especially the Gospels. 

Which aspect of Spiritism strikes you the most?

It’s the fact that it is very clear and it explains the sentences, teachings and parables of the Gospel of Jesus in a straightforward manner. It also provides rational and safe guidance for all the problems and issues of a philosophical, moral and spiritual nature that people will face in life. If the Earth is a ship and Christ is at the helm, then Spiritism is without a doubt the right-hand man of a very capable captain!

How important, do you think, are the Old and the New Testament for Spiritism?

They are very important for historic and theoretical reasons. From a historic perspective, you have to bear in mind that in four opportunities Jesus prophesied the arrival of the Consoler (Spiritism) and said that the Spirit of Truth would come one day to remind humanity of all the things that He had said; and it would teach men all that He couldn’t teach [because those who heard Himat the time were not ready yet]. That is in the Bible, in the Gospel of John, 14:15-17; 14:25-26; 15:26-27 and 16:12-14. Well, how can Spiritism be expected to remind people of Christ and his teachings if Spiritists are not familiar with the main source of information, which is the New Testament? 

From a theoretical perspective, you can see that the books written by Allan Kardec -- the Codification of Spiritism -- and some works by the Spirit, Emmanuel, focus on and comment passages of the Old and the New Testament. There is clearly a semantic, philosophical and moral consistency between the teachings of Jesus and the principles of Spiritism. The Gospel According to Spiritism quotes many passages from the Old Testament, Acts of the Apostles, Letters of Paul and the Apostolic Letters! And Jesus, by the way, loved the Book of Isaiah and very often quoted the Old Testament! If Kardec considered Spiritism to be the Third Revelation, the other two also must be studied: The Second Revelation [with Christ and the Apostles] and the First Revelation [with Moses and the Prophets].  

How important do you think are public talks and study groups in Spiritist Centres in the period we’re going through?

They are essential as a safeguard of the morality and spirituality required by the human Spirit, so that it is able to contribute towards the process of transition that the planet is going through and may earn the right to live here when we reach the stage of Regeneration. Never has man and the world needed God, Christ and love so much as now, as we go through this historic process of transition on Earth. The Christian-Spiritist teachings and the revelations about the true nature of the Spirit are a gateway towards spiritual progress and talks and study groups have a key part to play in that process. 

Can you share with our readers an inspiring story from your experience in the Spiritist Movement?

I was invited to help a family in Brasilia with the Gospel in the Home. They were exhausted and couldn’t support any longer the abuse from vindictive Spirits, who were making them pay for something they’d gone through in past lives. Their eldest daughter, who was 8 years old, had been subjugated by the Spirits and was no longer able to speak or move properly. She had failed in her school year. She wasn’t able to feed herself and had to be fed with a bottle during her sleep. The younger daughter, who was only two years old, was beaten up by her sister if she ever got near her. The windows of the flat had to be kept shut, as the Spirits were inducing her to jump out of the window! Our team assisted the family for three months, taking part in the Gospel in the Home every week in the presence of the parents. And, without their knowledge, we were also talking regularly during the mediumship meetings at Comunhão to the Spirits who were attacking them. We were advising them to forgive and let it go. Thanks to the comforting message of Jesus, to the Spiritist Teachings that explained why we suffer and to frequent prayers and healing, things began to get better gradually. The girl began speaking again, to eat properly, to walk and to study. Time went by and we put that behind us, this blessed opportunity to comfort others, to pray and to help. About two years later, I was with my children in a play area of Brasilia on a Sunday and I heard the girl and her parents calling me. There’d been a complete transformation. They were happy, the two sisters were together playing on their bikes and the parents had gone back to work. They also told us that they had become Spiritists and were now volunteer workers at the Spiritist Centre where they had been helped. The two daughters had also begun attending the Saturday afternoon youth groups. That Sunday was one of the most gratifying days of my life! It brightened up my soul!