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The Ardent Desire for Holiness That Transforms the Soul
Among the deepest and most demanding words that came from the lips of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we find a Beatitude that is often misunderstood or reduced to a simple desire for social justice or human balance. However, its meaning is far higher, deeper, and more supernatural.
Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
These words do not speak simply of those who desire the world to be more just according to human criteria, nor only of those who fight against social injustice—although this also has its place—but principally of those who burn interiorly to grow without ceasing in the grace of God, in holiness, and in the constant practice of good works.
Those hunger and thirst for justice who intensely desire to please God, to conquer sin, to live in friendship with the Lord, and to advance continually on the path of Christian perfection.
This Beatitude does not describe a passing emotion, but a permanent attitude of the soul.
Today more than ever, in a society that has confused justice with passing ideologies and morality with personal opinions, we need to rediscover the true meaning of this evangelical teaching.
Because the justice of which Christ speaks is not first political: it is spiritual.
And that hunger is not satisfied by the applause of the world, but by the possession of God.
Justice According to the Gospel
When we hear the word “justice,” we usually think of courts, laws, punishments, or human rights. But in biblical language, especially in the Gospel, justice means something much higher.
Justice, in the evangelical sense, is the uprightness of the soul before God.
It is living according to His will.
It is giving God what belongs to Him: adoration, obedience, love, fidelity, and self-giving.
It is also giving our neighbor what we owe them: charity, truth, respect, and mercy.
But above all, it is being in a state of grace.
A just soul is a soul united to God.
That is why, when Christ speaks of hungering and thirsting for justice, He is speaking of the ardent desire for holiness.
Saint Augustine explained that this hunger is the longing for spiritual perfection, that holy dissatisfaction that makes the Christian never settle for a mediocre life.
It is not enough to simply “not do evil.”
The soul that truly loves God wants to do all the good possible.
It wants to grow.
It wants to resemble Christ more.
It wants to live fully for Heaven.
That is the true hunger.
That is the true thirst.
Hunger and Thirst: An Intense Desire, Not a Superficial One
Jesus did not simply say:
“Blessed are those who desire justice”
but rather:
“those who hunger and thirst.”
And this completely changes the meaning.
Hunger and thirst are vital needs.
They are not whims.
They are not preferences.
They are not optional hobbies.
They are deep urgencies.
The one who is truly hungry thinks about food.
The one who is truly thirsty desperately seeks water.
So must the desire for holiness be in the Christian soul.
Not like a beautiful idea.
Not like an occasional practice.
Not like a Sunday custom.
But as an interior necessity.
Many want God… but without too much effort.
Many desire Heaven… but without renouncing sin.
Many admire holiness… but do not want the sacrifice it requires.
That is not hunger.
That is not thirst.
The true disciple of Christ experiences a holy restlessness.
He knows that he still loves too little.
He knows that he still prays too little.
He knows that he still gives too little.
And therefore he desires more.
He does not settle.
He does not become comfortable.
He does not negotiate with lukewarmness.
He is hungry.
He is thirsty.
He thirsts for God.
As the Psalmist said:
“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:2).
The Tradition of the Church and This Beatitude
The Fathers of the Church and the great spiritual doctors always interpreted this Beatitude in the key of interior holiness.
Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that this hunger for justice is the desire for perfect virtue and the full fulfillment of the divine will.
It is not simply about avoiding mortal sin, but about aspiring to the fullness of love.
Saint John Chrysostom affirmed that Christ does not praise those who practice justice coldly, but those who desire it with passion.
It is a justice lived with interior fire.
Not with obligation.
Not with appearance.
But with love.
Saint Gregory the Great explained that whoever truly loves divine justice feels sorrow for his own imperfections and ceaselessly longs for a greater union with God.
That is why the saints never felt “good enough.”
The closer they were to God, the more aware they were of how much they still lacked in love.
Not because they lived in anguish, but because true love always wants to grow.
The mediocre person believes himself holy.
The saint knows how much he needs God.
The False Justice of the Modern World
We live in an age that speaks constantly about justice, but which has often completely forgotten God.
Social justice, economic justice, political justice, historical justice are demanded… but the justice of the soul is forgotten.
The sins of others are denounced, but one’s own are justified.
Public morality is demanded, but personal conversion is rejected.
Human rights are defended, but divine law is despised.
This creates great confusion.
Because without God, justice ends up being redefined by power, fashion, or the dominant ideology.
Today, good is called what yesterday was called evil.
And vice versa.
But the justice of Christ does not change.
It does not depend on polls.
It does not depend on governments.
It does not depend on cultural trends.
It depends on eternal truth.
To hunger and thirst for justice means wanting to live according to that truth, even if the world rejects it.
It means preferring fidelity to God over the approval of men.
It means defending the truth even when it is costly.
It means choosing the Cross over comfort.
And that requires courage.
Hunger for Grace: Growing Continually
“Those hunger and thirst for justice who ardently desire to grow continually in divine grace and in the exercise of good works.”
This expression wonderfully summarizes the deep meaning of the Beatitude.
It is not enough to have received grace.
One must grow in it.
The spiritual life is not static.
Either we advance or we retreat.
Neutrality does not exist.
The Christian who stops fighting begins to grow cold.
That is why the Church has always insisted on the need for continual conversion.
Every good confession.
Every fervent Communion.
Every act of charity.
Every hidden sacrifice.
Every battle against a disordered passion.
Every act of patience.
Every renunciation for love of God.
All of this makes the soul grow.
And the one who hungers for justice desires precisely this:
not to remain where he is.
He wants more purity.
More humility.
More prayer.
More charity.
More truth.
More Christ.
Not because of human perfectionism, but because of supernatural love.
Good Works: The Fruit of This Holy Hunger
The true hunger for justice does not remain in interior feelings.
It produces visible fruits.
The soul that desires God acts.
It loves.
It serves.
It forgives.
It repairs.
It helps.
It evangelizes.
It sacrifices.
It obeys.
It perseveres.
Good works are not an optional ornament of faith.
They are its natural consequence.
As James says:
“Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
Not because works “buy” salvation, but because a living faith necessarily transforms life.
Whoever hungers for holiness does not ask:
“What is the minimum I must do?”
but rather:
“Lord, what more can I give You?”
That change of question changes everything.
The lukewarm soul seeks the minimum.
The soul in love seeks the maximum.
The saints were not men and women of minimums.
They were souls consumed by the desire to please God.
How Do I Know If I Hunger and Thirst for Justice?
This question is necessary.
Because we can live for years within the Church and still remain settled in a comfortable spiritual mediocrity.
Some signs of this holy hunger are:
Feeling sincere sorrow for sin.
Desiring to confess well and frequently.
Seeking real moments of prayer.
Wanting to know the faith better.
Seriously fighting against personal defects.
Not settling for a superficial religion.
Having a desire for the Eucharist.
Loving truth even when it is uncomfortable.
Seeking the will of God above personal whims.
Feeling that there is still much left to love.
It is not about immediate perfection.
It is about interior direction.
About a deep orientation of the heart.
The one who hungers for justice may fall, but he returns.
He may grow tired, but he continues.
He may weep, but he does not abandon.
Because he knows that outside of God there is no true life.
“For They Shall Be Satisfied”
Christ does not promise an easy path.
He promises fullness.
“For they shall be satisfied.”
He does not say “applauded.”
He does not say “understood.”
He does not say “admired.”
He says “satisfied.”
And this is infinitely greater.
The world offers pleasures that entertain, but do not satisfy.
Success.
Money.
Prestige.
Power.
Recognition.
All of that leaves the heart empty when it occupies the place of God.
Only God satisfies.
Only truth satisfies.
Only holiness satisfies.
Only Christ can fill the abyss of the human heart.
And that fullness begins already here, although imperfectly, and will reach its total consummation in Heaven.
Those who hungered for God on earth will be eternally satisfied in the Beatific Vision.
There will be no more struggle there.
There will be no more sin.
There will be no more thirst.
Because God will be all in all.
An Urgent Call for Our Time
We live in times of spiritual lukewarmness.
Many baptized people survive religiously, but they do not burn interiorly.
The sense of spiritual combat has been lost.
Mediocrity has been normalized.
The demands of the Gospel have been lowered.
But Christ did not call His disciples to a comfortable faith.
He called them to holiness.
To the radicality of love.
To the Cross.
To the perfection of the Father.
Today this Beatitude sounds like an urgent call:
Awaken.
Do not settle.
Do not live halfway.
Do not negotiate with sin.
Do not reduce your faith to a social custom.
Be hungry.
Be thirsty.
Seek God with all your soul.
Because whoever settles for little ends up losing everything.
And whoever gives everything for Christ gains everything.
Conclusion: The Holy Nonconformity of the Christian
To hunger and thirst for justice is to live with a holy dissatisfaction.
Not a sick sadness, but a love so great that it never settles.
It is knowing that God deserves more.
That we can love more.
That we can be holier.
That there is still road ahead.
It is the nonconformity of the saints.
It is the nostalgia for Heaven.
It is the deep desire for Christ to reign completely in the soul.
The world teaches us to settle.
Christ teaches us to desire the infinite.
And for that reason, today we must ask ourselves sincerely:
Do I truly hunger for God?
Do I truly thirst for holiness?
Or have I become accustomed to a lukewarm and comfortable faith?
The answer to that question can change an entire life.
Because the saints were not extraordinary people by nature.
They were people who were hungry.
And they never stopped seeking until they were satisfied in God.
