Pope Benedict XVI called on
people to never be satisfied with their earthly achievements because
true happiness entails seeking out the greater good.
He said people should "not be discouraged by fatigue or by obstacles
born of our sins," because striving for the greater good is demanding
and cannot be built or provided by mere human effort.
During his general audience talk to some 20,000 pilgrims gathered in St.
Peter' s Square Nov. 7, the pope spoke about "the mysterious desire for
God," which lies deep in every human heart.
Despite rampant secularization and people's claims of being indifferent
to God, an innate yearning for God "has not completely disappeared and
still today, in many ways, appears in the heart of mankind."
People always strive for happiness and a well-being that is "often far
from spiritual," and yet they are also aware there still remains a
deeper yearning for something that could truly satisfy their "restless
heart," he said.
"Every wish that arises in the human heart is echoed by a fundamental desire that is never fully satisfied," he said.
True love pushes people to think beyond themselves, to be at the service
of the other up to the point of self-sacrifice, he said.
Pope Benedict said the church should create a "pedagogy of desire" for
people of faith and for those who do not believe in God and as a way to
open them up to the transcendent.
This "pedagogy" would teach or remind people to enjoy "the authentic
joys of life," such as family, friendship, helping others, solidarity
with those in need and the love for learning, art and the beauty of
nature, the pope said.
Not all pleasures are equal; some things eventually leave behind
disappointment, bitterness, dissatisfaction or emptiness, he said.
People should appreciate those things that leave behind "a positive
mark, ease the soul and make us more active and generous." Such
authentic enjoyments also create "effective antibodies against the
trivialization and banality so present today," he said.
Learning to rediscover authentic pleasures can rescue people from "the
mediocrity in which they may find themselves ensnared" and it can help
people ignore or reject all the things that seem attractive on the
surface, but underneath "are dull or bring about addiction and not
freedom," the pope said.
Nothing can extinguish the innate desire for and ability to recognize
the true good, not even after following the wrong path in life or when
trapped in an "artificial paradise" or in the darkest depths of sin, he
said.
God has made that ability innate in everyone and it is always open to redemption and the gift of his grace, the pope said.
The pope asked people to pray for everyone "who seeks the truth with a
sincere heart, that they may come to know the joy and freedom born of
faith."