Claim. A filial son is defined by who bears the family’s bad outcomes: he gives the good things away and shoulders the bad ones on the parents’ behalf.
Elaboration. SMM distills the role: “a filial son or daughter is a person who, representing others, wants to bear responsibility for the wretched situation of his or her parents. The way of putting aside the good things, if there’s something good, and always wanting to bear responsibility for the bad things, is the way a devoted child must go” (CSG 14.2 §1, 62-23, 1972.9.10). The same pattern scales upward: “because God worries over global problems, then, if there is a person who wants to take responsibility for global problems, it goes without saying that this person can be recognized by God.” Filial piety is thus an indemnity posture in miniature — the child volunteers to absorb cost so the parent does not have to. The structure prefigures the messiah’s relation to God and humankind.
See also. csg-the-filial-child-comforts-god-by-removing-his-cross