[[catechism-of-the-catholic-church|Table of Contents]] --- - PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST - SECTION ONE: MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT - CHAPTER ONE: THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON - Article 2: OUR VOCATION TO BEATITUDE - II. The Desire for Happiness > [[3.1.1.2.p5i|Previous]] - [[3.1.1.2.p5k|Next]] --- # II. The Desire for Happiness 1718 The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it: ^ccc-1718 We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.¹³ How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.¹⁴ God alone satisfies.¹⁵ 1719 The Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith. ^ccc-1719 --- **[13]** St. Augustine, De moribus eccl. 1, 3, 4: PL 32,1312.**[14]** St. Augustine, Conf. 10, 20: PL 32, 791.**[15]** St. Thomas Aquinas, Expos. in symb. apost. I. --- > [[3.1.1.2.p5i|Previous]] - [[3.1.1.2.p5k|Next]]