CCC 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:

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 St. Augustine, De moribus eccl. 1, 3, 4: PL 32,1312PL — Patrologia Latina (Migne). 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 St. Augustine, Conf. 10, 20: PL 32, 791PL — Patrologia Latina (Migne). God alone satisfies.¹⁵ St. Thomas Aquinas, Expos. in symb. apost. I.