Reflection on Piety by Sr. Mary Micaela Hoffmann, RSM, lecturer
Piety: Giving God loving respect in thought, word, and action, especially in religious practices and matters, neither obsessively scrupulous nor insincere.
The virtue of piety, it seems to me, often gets a bad rap in our contemporary mind—if we even think of it at all. We might call our grandmother pious because she goes to church often and says many prayers. Sometimes we describe people with strong ethical convictions saying, “You know he or she is so pious—they don’t know how to have fun”—maybe with Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young” refrain playing somewhere in our subconscious. In reality, the virtue of piety is important for all of us, and helps bring peace to our lives.
St. Jean Baptiste de LaSalle taught that teachers should be very pious. Why? Let us begin with a description of piety: giving God loving respect in thought, word, and action, especially in religious practices and matters, neither obsessively scrupulous nor insincere. Piety is related closely to justice, and is motivated by the conviction that it is right to show honor and respect to the God who created us and all good gifts of creation. Picture yourself standing in the middle of an incredible starry night, and saying, “Wow!” Piety includes a mix of that “Wow” and a big “Thank you!” directed towards the God who is even more awesome than His creation. From our interior attitude of acknowledging God’s greatness and benevolence, exterior actions of piety naturally flow. These actions include setting aside time for religious worship and prayer, and following the commandments of God. We also show respect by speaking about God in appropriate ways.
What might characterize pious teachers? They seek not only to teach science or writing skills, but are also concerned about the big questions of their students’ lives. A pious classroom environment therefore will remind students that “We are in the holy presence of God.” Pious teachers will educate themselves about the truths of faith that they profess, and set a genuine example for students, such as attending campus Masses and beginning classes with prayer.
