Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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DESIRE

To wish or long for the possession or enjoyment of something that a person's appetite does not presently have. Desires are natural if they proceed from man's inborn lack of what he needs; they are supernatural when inspired by divine grace. Man's fallen nature has desires that incline to what is sinful, but, so far from being sinful, these desires of concupiscence are a source of merit provided they are controlled according to the will of God.