As he concludes his short reflection on the question of “Eternal life – what is it?”, Pope Benedict explains that even though we do not know with great clarity what eternal life is, we nevertheless continue to reach out to it. He describes that yearning in this way:
In some way we want life itself, true life, untouched even by death; yet at the same time we do not know the thing towards which we feel driven. We cannot stop reaching out for it, and yet we know that all we can experience or accomplish is not what we yearn for. (SS 12)
He concludes that this unknown “thing” is the true “hope” that drives us forward in our pursuit of what are hearts ultimately long for. This longing for the unknown, which promises something fulfilling, often leaves us with an experience of suffering as we continue grasping at worldly hopes, only to find that they leave us feeling unfulfilled, longing for something more, longing for something that will endure.
This dynamic of grasping for something, and feeling unfulfilled, when directed toward unhealthy, worldly things, can result in addiction. I recently came across a resource called Creedopedia, which is an online reference book on the Catholic faith, produced by the publishers of YOUCAT, the youth catechism first published in 2011 as resource for young people to learn their Catholic faith. In the Creedopedia, there is a helpful, succinct definition of addiction that highlights the point I just made:
Behind every addiction, there is longing. People seek ecstasy, a never-ending feeling of happiness and fulfillment. Various types of addiction can numb a sense of inner emptiness for a moment, evoking “ecstatic feelings”. However, this is a far cry from what a person with an addiction is really longing for. (https://youcat.org/credopedia/addiction-a-longing-for-more/)
With the help of the words of the Holy Father from this paragraph, we know that what we are really longing for is God, more specifically eternal life with Him in Heaven. But because this reality escapes our human experience, we find ourselves in a state of confusion. The Holy Father comments on this confusion:
“Eternal”, in fact, suggests to us the idea of something interminable, and this frightens us; “life” makes us think of the life that we know and love and do not want to lose, even though very often it brings more toil than satisfaction, so that while on the one hand we desire it, on the other hand we do not want it. (SS 12)
In an attempt to give some sort of sense of what the experience of eternal life might be like, the pope proposes an interesting analogy:
It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time—the before and after—no longer exists. We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy. (ibid)
Perhaps these past few articles in which we struggle with the idea of what eternal life is still leaves us feeling somewhat uncertain, and maybe still a bit confused. But hopefully the words of the Holy Father on this question has given us some encouragement, and most of all, a greater sense of hope – true hope, a hope that keeps us moving forward in faith, and a hope, which we believe with firm faith, will not disappoint.