“I greet you all with a heart full of gratitude, at the beginning of the ministry entrusted to me. Saint Augustine wrote: ‘You have made us for yourself, [Lord, ] and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you’ (Confessions, 1,1.1).” With these words, Pope Leo XIV began his programmatic homily at the inauguration of his Petrine Ministry.

Thirst for God

The Pope highlighted the perennial relevance of the Gospel and the centrality of Jesus Christ, emphasizing the value of faith in illuminating the lives of individuals and society. Among the concerns of our time, we see the thirst for God in many personal searches enveloped in an atmosphere of spirituality that never quite fills.

A major theme in many cases is what happens beyond the barrier of death: Is there a real personal life? Will we retain our 100% personal identity? Will we experience a real encounter with our loved ones? Is personal resurrection possible? Is God the guarantee of happiness? Is there a heaven and a hell?

These are difficult questions to avoid that arise at difficult moments in personal and family life, such as the loss of loved ones or the failure of exciting projects. Many thinkers and writers express their responses to the basic Christian paradox: how can we live a secure hope on earth if everything ends with death? Or, does the Christian appreciation of temporal realities make sense if the afterlife nullifies our work and our loves?

Searches

For example, in a recent work, the writer Javier Cercas asks whether his believing mother will find his father in the afterlife. This question is the driving force of this vital essay, inspired by having asked it of Pope Francis and accompanied him on his trip to Mongolia^[i]. The reader can see the author’s twists and turns on this question, which epitomizes the agnosticism of those who cannot find an adequate answer, although it is true that there is a willingness to find one and a fundamental Christian foundation in his life experience. Despite his criticisms and a non-spiritual paradigm of the Church, Cercas has made a notable effort to accompany and align himself with Francis, and to delve deeper into the presence of God in the world.

Another writer raises the question of God, the origin of the universe and of humankind, the problem of evil, or the encounter of reason with faith. These are hardly any paradoxes, and they are not easy to resolve in one fell swoop. [ii] Pedro García Cuartango seems a tireless seeker of answers to the enigma of God, as he himself titles his recent work on faith and uncertainty.

Truly central is the chapter he dedicates to faith and grace, in which he recounts his experiences as a boy raised in the Catholic faith, which he practices formally. His youthful reflections, the development of his critical sense, and his extensive readings will continue, and he sincerely expresses his perplexity at not reaching faith or experiencing God’s grace. An interesting work that deserves much respect and sincere dialogue with the reader. Like other writers and thinkers, the author is able to diagnose the question about God, although without finding a definitive answer.

In reality, it is not only about affirming the existence of God, but about knowing who God is and what his intrapersonal intimacy is like. Not only that, but also what the relationship of each person’s personal self with God is like, which involves the mind, the heart, the feelings, and ultimately the trusting surrender to the One who has given everything for each one of us. Perhaps the thought of the French thinker B. Pascal is worth mentioning, when he considered that the knowledge of God without the knowledge of one’s own misery causes pride. The knowledge of one’s own misery without the knowledge of God causes despair. The knowledge of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, fosters a middle ground, because in him, we find God and our misery. (Thoughts, no. 192).

Serenity and Patience

Ultimately, each person’s thinking depends greatly on the education they received in the faith, for it has often been based on respect and fear, and less on the love of God, who is truly interested in every man and woman, and has demonstrated this to the extreme through the Incarnation of the only-begotten Son and His death on the cross. This was demonstrated by the good Curé of Ars when someone asked him what he would think if, at the end of his life, he found that God no longer existed; he replied that in that case, he would not regret having dedicated his life to an ideal of love and service to his neighbor. And naturally, he remained silent about the fact that he was certain of God, not because of his merits, but because of God’s infinite goodness.

As a man of faith, he also believed that God is not arbitrary in bestowing his gifts, but rather sows with infinite generosity—Jesus Christ is the tangible proof—in every soul: no one is left out of the action of the divine Spirit, who draws with gentleness and strength, respecting the freedom of every man and woman. Freedom that explains the terrible problem of evil in the world, but also the selfless love of believers, and of others, who work to be a light for the world.

It is worth emphasizing that questions about God, the afterlife, and personal resurrection involve the person to such an extent that intellectual reflections are insufficient: because we are not just a thinking brain or a corporeality, that res cogitas and res extensa of the philosopher R. Descartes, thank God. And note that the French thinker was a sincere and true believer, who lost himself in crystalline intellectual speculation. And thank goodness that his attitude of trust in God and Christianity allowed him to advance in the light of faith.

The Christian paradox consists in simultaneously affirming the value of earthly realities as necessary for growing in the hope of heaven. All in light of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, equal to the Father and true man, who died and rose again for the salvation of all.

(To be continued)

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[i] Javier Cercas. The Fool of God. Journey to the End of the World.

[ii] Pedro Gacía Cuartango. The Enigma of God. Ed. Somos B. 2025, 249 pages.