The Desire for God

By Scott Ferrier, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

No created and finite good can satisfy man’s desire for unlimited goodness. The Catechism tells us: “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for” (CCC, 27).

St. Thomas Aquinas, on the basis of Holy Scripture, said that the only way we can naturally come to an understanding of God’s existence is through what He has created (Romans 1:20).

When we are baptized and receive, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, our natural desire is transformed from a philosophical search into the desire to see the face of God in heaven. This is the unmerited gift of divine adoption as sons and daughters of our Father. The following prayer, attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas, articulates beautifully the longing for heaven.

O God of every consolation, I call upon you, who see in me nothing but what you have given me.

May you be pleased to give me, after this life’s end, the gift of knowing the first truth, of rejoicing in your Divine Majesty.

Most lavish rewarder, give, also, to my body the beauty of spiritual radiance, the mobility of matter subject to mind, the responsiveness suited to its perfection, and the bold assurance of flesh free of all vulnerability.

And please add to these riches pouring over, delights pouring in, and goods pouring together, so that I may rejoice in your comfort above me, in your land’s loveliness beneath me, in body and soul’s glorification within me, and in the fellowship of friends and angels delightfully around me.

Most merciful Father, with you let my capacities be fulfilled: of reasoning, by reaching the light of wisdom; of desiring, by possessing true goods; and of striving, by attaining the honor of triumph in your presence; where there is freedom from threats, variety of dwellings, and harmony of wills, spring’s pleasantness, summer’s brightness, fall’s plenty, and winter’s rest.

Lord God, give me life without death, joy without sorrow, and in your presence, where there is supreme freedom, freedom from all care, carefree tranquility, joyful happiness, happy endlessness, endless blessedness, the sight and praise of truth, my God. Amen.