What Ends Our Restlessness & Satisfies Our Deepest Longing? ‘Christ’ — Pope Gives Comfort at 1st Virtual General Audience in Time of Coronavirus

How to satisfy our deepest longing, and no longer be restless? Only through Christ….

Today, Pope Francis made this observation from his papal library, where he gave a virtual, televised General Audience, as concerns over the Coronavirus has essentially put Italy on lock down.

Francis continued his new series of catechesis, on the Beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel, and today specifically the Fourth Beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mt 5:6).

The Holy Father discussed how we have the deepest sort of longing inside of us and how we remain restless until we put our hearts in God.

Psalm 63, the Jesuit Pope recalled, expresses: “O God, you are my God, I pine for you; my heart thirsts for you” (v. 1).

Similarly, the great sinner, turned saint (after his mother, St. Monica, prayed years for his conversion), St. Augustine, similarly observed: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Confessions, I, 1).

Within every heart, the Holy Father concluded, there is this desire, which is only fulfilled in Christ, Our Lord.

Below is the Vatican-provided text of the Pope’s summary.

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Speaker:

Speaker:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the Beatitudes, we now turn to the fourth Beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mt 5:6). Jesus speaks not only of hungering and thirsting for personal and social justice, but also points to a deeper yearning for righteousness in the eyes of God. Psalm 63 expresses this thirst thus: “O God, you are my God, I pine for you; my heart thirsts for you” (v. 1). Saint Augustine puts it similarly: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Confessions, I, 1). This desire lies within every human heart and finds its fulfilment in Christ, who through the paschal mystery has reconciled us to the Father and calls us to share with everyone the Good News of our justification. The Beatitude promises us that by promoting justice in this highest sense, we will find true satisfaction, for our thirsting for righteousness will be quenched by the love God pours out upon his children.

Speaker:

I greet the English-speaking faithful joining us through the media, as we continue on our Lenten journey towards Easter. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you!

[Vatican-provided English text]