This filial trust is manifested particularly in the prayer that the Spirit Himself awakens in our hearts. He helps us in our weakness, for not even knowing what we ought to ask for in our prayers, nor how it is fitting to do so, the Spirit Himself pleads for us with groanings that cannot be uttered5. Thanks to these promptings, we can address God in the right tone, in a prayer that is rich and varied in nuances, just like life itself. At times, we will speak to God our Father in a familiar complaint: *Why do you hide your face…?*6; or we will express to Him our desires for greater holiness: for You I seek early, my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You as in a dry, weary, and waterless land7; or our union with Him: besides You, I desire nothing on earth8; or an unshakeable hope in His mercy: You are my God and my Savior, in You I hope always9.
This filial affection of the gift of piety is also manifested in praying over and over again like children in need, until we are granted what we ask. In prayer, our will becomes identified with that of our Father, who always wants what is best for His children. This trust in prayer makes us feel secure, firm, and bold; it drives away the anxiety and restlessness of those who rely only on their own strength, and it helps us to remain serene in the face of obstacles.
The Christian who allows himself to be moved by the spirit of piety understands that our Father wants what is best for each of His children. He has arranged everything for our greatest good. Therefore, happiness lies in gradually discovering what God wants from us at every moment of our lives and carrying it out without delay or hesitation. From this trust in divine fatherhood, serenity is born, because we know that even those things which seemed to be an irremediable evil work together for the good of those who love God10. The Lord will show us one day why that humiliation, that economic disaster, that illness... was necessary.
This gift of the Holy Spirit allows the duties of justice and the practice of charity to be carried out with promptness and ease. It helps us to see other people, with whom we live and meet every day, as children of God, creatures who possess an infinite value because He loves them with a boundless love and has redeemed them with the Blood of His Son shed on the Cross. The gift of piety impels us to treat those around us with immense respect, to sympathize with their needs, and to try to remedy them. Moreover, the Holy Spirit enables us to see Christ Himself in others, to whom we render these services and assistance: truly I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these least of my brethren, you did it to me11.
Piety toward others leads us to always judge them with kindness, "which walks hand in hand with a filial affection for God, our common Father"12; it disposes us to readily forgive any offenses we may receive, even those that might be most painful to us. Thus the Lord instructed us: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute and slander you, so that you may be children of your heavenly Father, who makes his sun rise on the good and the bad, and sends rain on the just and the unjust13. If the Lord is referring here to serious offenses, how can we not forgive and overlook the small frictions that come with all daily coexistence? Generous and unconditional forgiveness is a true hallmark of the children of God.
HCD