Recently there was a meeting of the formation team that runs the Deacon Formation Program for the Diocese of Erie. I was at the meeting, since I’m associate director of the program and coordinate the academic portion of the formation program. We were evaluating the progress of some of the candidates in the program. One of the team members described a candidate as quite pious but how his spirituality has developed was unclear. I thought that the distinction was useful, not only for someone charged with preparing people for ordination as deacons but as a useful tool for self-evaluation.
The dictionary refers to piety as the virtue of respect for God and devotion to religious obligations. These are good things. It is important to be respectful of God. Respect for God grounds a person in reality and helps one to keep his priorities straight. Devotion to religious obligations helps a person to stay rooted in their religious tradition and identity.
Spirituality is defined in the dictionary as a process of personal transformation, either in accordance with traditional religious ideals; or, oriented on subjective experience of the holy. Traditionally, spirituality was seen as the way in which a person lived out their faith. Some authors describe spirituality as the place where our ideas about religion encounter our feelings. Other authors describe spirituality as the encounter with God in the contours and context of our daily lives.
Both spirituality and piety involve a regular spiritual discipline on the part of the believer. This discipline can include meditation, sacred reading, prayer, Eucharistic adoration, participation in the Mass and other devotions, as well as writing/journaling. From the perspective of piety these disciplines are undertaken as expressions of one’s devotion to God. From the perspective of spirituality these disciplines are undertaken not only as an expression of devotion but as a means to our transformation in Christ. The goal isn’t just doing certain practices; rather the goal is an integration of religious experience, practice and one’s life. The danger is that in piety the disciplines can become ends in themselves and its impact stays on the surface.
So, for example, one might keep a journal as a spiritual discipline. A person can make an entry in his or her journal every day without gaining much insight. It is a worthy pious practice but when the practice leads to insight and a deeper understanding of how God is working in his or her life then the practice has contributed to the transformation and developing spirituality of the person.
My father is a perfect illustration of this difference, at least in my mind. I never thought of my dad as a particularly pious person. Except at Mass, he rarely prayed in public. Though he was a member of the Nocturnal Adoration Society and once a month he would join other men from the Diocese keeping vigil before the Eucharist in the middle of the night. Once every six months he would take me to a communion breakfast for the members. I was about 10 years old at the time. I didn’t have to get up and pray, I could just accompany him and enjoy the breakfast. He wasn’t even involved in many ministries at the parish. However, he was deeply involved in helping to make the community better. He was the social service chairman for his union and once per week he would be available to help the union members with any problems they may be having–from housing, to heating bills to health issues. He was the union representative on the Human Rights Commission for the county and helped to bring healing and compassion to the various ethnic communities in the city during difficult times. For a number of years he would take me with him to the local orphanage each Friday night, where he would show cartoons with an old fashion movie projector and treat the kids to ice cream.
When there was a need in the community, he was there trying to meet the need. He was a deacon in his actions before the church had permanent deacons. From the beginning, his was the spirituality of a deacon and he inspired me to become a deacon when I grew up; not by what he said but by how he lived his life. When people looked at him they didn’t see a particularly pious man. However, if people got to know him, they discovered that he was a very spiritual person. He embodied Christian love and service in every aspect of his daily life. People who encountered him were better for it.
How are you perceived by yourself and others? Are you pious? Are you spiritual?