Along with the investigation of the universe in search of its foundation, of its ultimate cause, there is another way of contemplating that also leads to the knowledge of the mystery of God. These are the ways centered on man, which look inward: they start from the analysis of human psychology, from the deepest desires that nestle within each person, from the great personal questions, in an exercise of reflection and introspection.
In this field we find the questions of meaning and the dreams of the human soul. These are the unavoidable existential "whys" and "wherefores" that beset every human being. It is the yearning for the great goods such as love, beauty, friendship, joy, happiness; with the desire that they be authentic, effective, without limitation, full. It is the cry of the thirsty soul, of the mind that seeks more, that radically desires the great, that is not satisfied with meeting material needs. Only the living and true God, who has thus shaped our appetitive dynamism, can more than satisfy these deep desires. "God alone satisfies" (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, in: Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1718).
We also yearn for the good of harmony in the community and respect for every person in his or her dignity. It is the sense of morality and justice, which is found in every human being as an innate cry. Only an absolute God can provide the foundation for universal ethical values and norms, including the imperatives of conscience, which are above positive laws. Moreover, only an eternal and transcendent God can do ultimate justice. For, as Benedict XVI affirms, "the question of justice is the essential argument or, at any rate, the strongest argument in favor of faith in eternal life." (encyclical letter Spe salvi, n. 43).
St. Augustine sums up this perspective in a precise and beautiful way at the beginning of his Confessions when he prays like this: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart will be restless until it rests in you". And he points out that it is about a close, intimate God, who "is more inside me than my own intimacy."but at the same time it is neither subjective nor manipulable, but superior and transcendent: "higher than the highest of myself".
Christ, the fullness of divine self-revelation and self-communication, offers humanity that inner source of light and life capable of satisfying the yearnings of the human heart: "...".He who is thirsty, let him come to me and drink."(Jn 7:37). And he invites the restless soul to inner peace: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Mt 11:28). Ultimately, only the God revealed in Christ promises us justice without delay (cf. Lk 18:8), offers us the divine light of truth that dispels darkness (cf. Jn 1:5-9), and the communion of love in perfect and eternal friendship (cf. Jn 15:15).
