St. Augustine What have I on earth but thee?

No Christian can say he has no tribulations – why? Because as long as we are in the body, we are only journeying to God. However well off we may be we are not yet in the homeland to which we are hastening. A man cannot love the journey and his own country too. If he loves his country, the journey will seem wearisome and full of tribulations. Here we labour and sorrow, there endless rest and unwearied love.

But, you will say, I have everything I want. Have you? Are you sure that everything won’t disappear? But I’m richer than I was, I’ve made a lot of money: possibly you are more afraid than you were, you might have felt more secure when you are rich in this world’s goods and feel sure of them too, and moreover God says to you: ‘All this will go on for ever, you shall possess these things for ever – but you will never seen my face’.

Brethren, ask the spirit, not the flesh. Let faith, hope and charity which are beginning to grow in your hearts give your reply. Think: would all those possessions make us happy if we were never to see his face? God forbid that anyone rest his joy in them and seek for nothing more. Such a man has not begun to love God, to live as a pilgrim. Nothing that we have except God can really be sweet to us. He is the giver of all things, without him himself what are they to us?

(S. Augustini, Enarr. in Psalmum 85,11)