We grow weary of everything. No human love is completely satisfying, for the shadow of separation or death hangs over it. Only the one who is the source of living water, not a cracked cistern, can satisfy human thirst. Saint Augustine expressed this well: ‘You have created us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’ Our works matter more to God than our words, but in some ways, our desires are even more important. They reveal a space for God within us, waiting for the moment he chooses to make us rich. Jesus and Mary, in her Magnificat, declare blessed those who hunger and thirst for God and unhappy those who are satisfied.
Happy are we if, at certain moments in our lives—while meditating on the word of God, praying, or responding generously to God’s call—we experience God through feelings that reveal him: peace, joy, security, inner conviction, fullness… Then, we can inspire others to love and thirst for God.