Pious Aeneas at the T-Sign

My brother Mario sent me an email today, with the above photo taken on 24 October, where he and his son (my nephew) John played in a charity golf tournament to benefit the youth at St Dominic Savio parish.

Mario sent the email to my brother Sal and to me, and his message is the following.

Hi Guys, I thought you might enjoy this picture. Every year, I sponsor a T-sign in Dad's memory for the golf tournament which benefits the Youth Center at Savio. This year, John played as part of the foursome with me, Nelson and Jack Hastert. This picture was taken on the 9th tee box on Wednesday 10/24/12. I never got to play golf with Dad, but every year at the tournament with his name on the sign, I feel that he is out there with me.

My reflections, maybe prompted by today's Gospel, centered on how piety was originally a family word, and how I see it played out in this gesture of my brother.

In the ancient Latin, the word pious really did not have any link to religion, but it was a word to describe the love that a son had for his father. Thus, Aeneas, who did everything to ensure his father's health and welfare in the midst of the terrible Trojan war, is called pius Æneas. Only in the 14th century was the word applied to religious contexts, as Christianity was seen as strengthening family in the context of the Greatest Commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31).

Our first neighbors are the members of our family, and then those living near to us, and then those in need who are far off. During the 14th Century when the plague known as the Black Death devastated Europe, those who risked their own lives to care for the plague victims were called pious. In the intensity of the risk, they turned to the figure of the Suffering Jesus who in his Passion gave his life to save poor sinners out of love for The Father. In this identification with Christ Crucified, the word found an enlarged meaning, so that the pious were united with Christ, and their piety became the merciful assisting of those in most need. Another word was born then too: compassion. It meant to suffer (passio) along Christ (with-suffering/com-passion). Piety, mercy, compassion, pity, active charity: all were pressed into these words, so that charity toward neighbor became complete only with true charity towards God -- love of God with one's whole being, and love of neighbor as one would love oneself. Piety summed it all up.

So piety, as we see it today, is intensely religious, but it was originally intensely centered on the family. It would be a wonderful thing if we could recuperate that original meaning. By the looks on the faces of my brother Mario and his son John, I think they are certainly living that family piety.