Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/2522

2522 The will is valued in ceremonial acts....

October 24, 1942: Book 33

God considers people according to their faith.... This is to be understood in such a way that people take spiritual ownership of what their faith teaches them and thus also fulfil everything that is demanded of them through faith. In this fulfilment God values the will of man, which is therefore good, because he leans towards God.... Man wants to do what is pleasing to God, what faith teaches him. And if this God-centred will determines his thoughts and actions, this is also pleasing to God, even though the person is not in the truth, i.e. he has been instructed in a false faith. This is why people who lack the right faith will also be blessed if they only strive for a way of life that is right before God and always do what seems right to them before God. They will always be given the opportunity to accept the right faith, the pure truth will be made accessible to them. However, if he believes that he cannot accept it because he believes himself to be in the truth, he will nevertheless lead a right, God-pleasing way of life and this will be recognized before God because the person wants what is good, because he wants to fulfil God's will. And so every action he performs will also be recognized according to his will.... And every ceremony, which in itself is completely worthless, becomes an act pleasing to God through the will to serve God with it. Thus, a good person can gain God's favour through any act as soon as he performs it for God's glory, as soon as he believes he is serving God with it, even though the act itself has no deeper value. On the other hand, a certain ceremonial act is worthless if it is not based on this God-centred will. And likewise, a person can strive towards God with all his will without such a ceremony, and this will is valued just as highly by God, that person can even be far closer to God who disregards all outward appearances but consciously wants to serve God. But just as man's faith is, so too will God's work appear in him, because God will not let man's faith be put to shame as long as it is not directed against God. However, it is wrong to assume that only the person who strictly fulfils all outward appearances lives in a manner pleasing to God. Nothing externally recognizable determines the right value before God, only the will that God sees, regardless of whether the person carries out the actions that are demanded of him through faith....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers