The Lord himself seems to make himself known through desires. St. Augustine writes in this regard: «Your desire is your prayer; if your desire continues, your prayer continues [...]. Desire is the interior prayer that knows no interruption." The gospel itself can be presented as a great education on desires; think for example. to Jesus' initial question in the Gospel of John: "What are you looking for?" (Jn 1,38), a question that invites clarity in the heart before starting the sequel. Even before a miracle, Jesus refers to desire, as when he finds himself faced with the paralytic in the pool of Bethesda, he asks him first of all: "Do you want to get well?" (Jn 5,6). By asking these questions, Jesus invites us to recognize what is important to desire in life as a guide for every further step, including healing.

Secondly, desire has a strong link with hope, as was said above, and therefore with the future dimension of life, the openness to possibilities to be realised: in desire there is already a component of possible success, of propensity to its implementation and realization, and in this hope constitutes a push to act and take initiatives. The stronger the desire is and involves the whole person, the more the subject uses all his energies to make the project achievable; vice versa, a symptom of a crisis of desire is given precisely by the inability to see a future for one's existence or to be afraid of it. As Lynch observes in this regard: «The firmness of desire and action on the one hand, and the ability to wait on the other constitute a possible definition of psychological maturity».

Hence the importance of a spiritual reading of one's situation: the difficulties that often make one uncomfortable and seem to hinder desires, can instead constitute their possible strong point, because they invite one to take a position, to recognize the affective resonances faced to such a situation, to tell the truth about one's desire.

But can we make a "ranking" of desires? Is it possible to develop criteria to recognize their validity and truth, in addition to the observation of their engaging power (which we know is also a danger)? Here spiritual discourse can effectively insert itself: the discernment of the spirits of Saint Ignatius is in this regard an aid in recognizing the truth of one's desires. We can remember some elements.

A first criterion can be introduced with the words of Saint Paul: «The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness because we don't even know what is appropriate to ask, but the Spirit himself insistently intercedes for us with inexpressible groans; and he who searches the hearts knows what the desires of the Spirit are, since he intercedes for believers according to the purposes of God" (Rom 8,26-27). The Spirit who prays in us reminds us first of all that the desire at its core is good and should not be feared. It's about practicing the art of listening, because true desires are profound and discreet: the Spirit, when it finds docility, refines the art of self-knowledge and intelligence, in its literal meaning of intus-legere, knowing reading between the lines, learning to go beyond what glitters but is superficial.

It is also important to consider durability. The profound desire does not fade away with the passage of time, but rather like the mustard seed in the parable (Mk 4, 31-32) it grows more and more. Stability is a good sign for desire, especially when one finds oneself in the disposition to seek and do the will of God, who is the Lord of time. Difficulties and failures usually do not extinguish deep desire, but if anything strengthen it even more; it's like when you're thirsty, if you can't find something to drink, that doesn't mean you give it up, on the contrary, at a certain point it takes over your entire thoughts and plans. St. Augustine introduces an interesting comparison in this regard: desire is like the container of the spirit, and the more man waits and struggles, the more desire and love grow and God can more generously put the gifts of he. This element had been well recognized by the fathers of the Church. St. Gregory the Great sees in Mary Magdalene's attempts to find the Lord at the tomb the dynamics of spiritual desire that grows and strengthens the more one tries to implement it and despite the difficulties: «So she searched for the first time, but did not find; she persevered in seeking, and it was given to her to find. Thus it happened that the desires grew as they continued, and as they grew they reached the object of the searches. Holy desires grow with prolongation. However, if they weaken while waiting, it is a sign that they were not true desires."