Easter 2026 - Reading #13 - Piety
Reading
Thomas Aquinas draws the connection between piety and the Beatitudes, linking the gift of piety to the meekness Christ praised: "The gift of piety corresponds to the beatitude, 'Blessed are the meek.' For meekness removes those obstacles to acts of piety which arise from movements of anger or indignation. The meek man, through the gift of piety, regards God as his Father and others as his brothers, and therefore is not inclined to harsh judgment or bitter contention."
Aquinas continues: "Piety also corresponds to the beatitude, 'Blessed are those who mourn,' insofar as the pious man mourns for the evils that afflict his brothers and sisters, just as a son mourns for the sufferings of his family. This is not the mourning of despair but the mourning of compassion, the grief of love, which moves the soul to prayer and to works of mercy."
For Aquinas, piety produces a distinct kind of person: one who is gentle not from timidity but from strength under governance, and who grieves not from weakness but from the fullness of a heart that recognizes its kinship with every suffering soul. The pious person is the one in whom the fatherhood of God has produced the brotherhood of all humanity.
Reflection
We close our second week with Aquinas linking piety to the Beatitudes, to meekness and mourning, two qualities the world consistently misunderstands. Meekness is not weakness; it is strength held in check by love. Mourning is not defeat; it is the compassion of a heart too alive to be indifferent to suffering. Both are fruits of the gift of piety, and both mark the person in whom the Spirit is genuinely at work.
Two weeks of Easter have passed. We have received two gifts: the fear of the Lord, which opened us to God's majesty, and piety, which drew us into God's intimacy. Together, they produce a soul that is both awed and at home, trembling before the infinite and nestled in the arms of a Father. This is the paradox at the heart of Christian experience, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit to hold both realities together without collapsing into either mere terror or mere coziness.
Tomorrow, we receive the gift of knowledge, the Spirit's illumination that enables us to see created things as they truly are, in relation to God and to our ultimate destiny. If fear of the Lord gave us awe and piety gave us intimacy, knowledge will give us clarity: the capacity to distinguish between what is passing and what is eternal, what serves God's purposes and what distracts from them. The house the Spirit is building in us is taking shape. The foundation of awe has been laid. The warmth of piety has been lit. Now the windows of knowledge will let in the light.