Easter 2026 - Reading #8 - Piety
Reading
The apostle Paul describes the gift of piety in its most intimate expression in his Letter to the Romans: "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:15-17).
Paul echoes this in Galatians: "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Galatians 4:6-7).
The word "Abba" is an Aramaic term of intimate address, closer to "Papa" or "Dad" than to a formal title. That the infinite God invites this mode of address is not a casual detail but a theological earthquake. Paul insists that this capacity, this daring intimacy, is not generated by human affection but poured into us by the Holy Spirit. Piety, in its deepest form, is the Spirit of Jesus within us, addressing the Father with the Son's own voice.
Reflection
Nine days into Easter, Paul takes us to the heart of piety: the cry of "Abba! Father!" that the Holy Spirit places in our hearts. This is not something we work up through effort or deserve through merit. It is a gift, the Spirit of adoption, and it transforms the entire landscape of the spiritual life.
Consider the magnitude of what Paul is claiming. The God who created the cosmos, who parted the sea, who raised Christ from the dead, invites you to call him Papa. Not because you have earned the right, but because he has adopted you. The Spirit within you, the same Spirit we are invoking throughout this Easter season, bears witness that this relationship is real. You are not an orphan trying to earn God's attention. You are a child who already has it.
For many people, the concept of God as Father is complicated by the reality of imperfect earthly fathers, absent, harsh, cold, or simply disappointing. Piety does not pretend these wounds do not exist. Rather, it offers a healing: the experience of a Father who is everything our earthly fathers were not, or could not be, or failed to be. The gift of piety, as it deepens within us during this Easter season, gradually replaces the distorted image of fatherhood with the true one, the Father who runs to meet the prodigal, who never tires of forgiving, who delights in his children with a fierce and tender joy. Let the Spirit call out within you today. Abba. Father. You are home.