Dear Parishioners and Friends,
We
continue our lesson of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the gift of piety. The
previous gift – the fear of the Lord – disposes us to find ways to be good sons
and daughters of God, our Father. In doing so, we will then exercise the gift
of piety.
Piety is
basically giving filial worship to God as our Father. With the help of this
gift our wills are disposed to the motions and inspirations of the Holy Spirit
and to revere God as our Father. It is a kind of reverence for Him which in
turn “spills out” into a deep love for our neighbor who we know also to be a
son or daughter of God. In this way the gift of piety does more than simply
give to others their due (thus perfecting the virtue of justice). The gift of
piety loves others in a selfless way in imitation of the way God loves us.
With this
gift we follow the Ten Commandments not simply because they are commanded by
God but because of our love for Him. Just as we follow the desires of our
earthly fathers because we love them so too we follow the Ten Commandments
because we love our heavenly Father.
In Christ,
Msgr. Baker
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