By Father John Catoir | Catholic News Service

Dorothy Day wrote an autobiography called "The Long Loneliness." Even the saintly suffer from loneliness.

Billions of people down through the ages have tried to solve the problem of loneliness, each in his, or her,own way. Unfortunately, the results are often disappointing. St. Augustine described this human condition in simple terms: "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord."

To deal with the ache of loneliness, we have to begin by accepting the truth that loneliness is both a spiritual problem and a universal fact of life.

Metaphysical loneliness is the price we pay for being unique, essentially separate from every other being and totally different. The natural feeling of isolation is part of every life; once we accept this, the easier it becomes to deal with. Even those who are gifted with close relatives and friends suffer in one way or another from this form of emotional pain.

This is why human beings crave some kind of interaction with other human beings. This is why charitable giving and volunteering can ease the burden of isolation. Loving others is indeed the best way to calm your restless spirit.

This nagging discomfort that we call loneliness, however, is God's way of drawing us into his love, and once we are calmer and tuned into God's love, the opportunity for joy becomes real. Rejoicing in God's will goes hand in hand with enjoying his company.

The go-go world does not see this as a viable solution. Those who misdiagnose the problem begin looking for love in all the wrong places. Searching for sexual intimacy in order to overcome the feeling of loneliness is certainly understandable, but it doesn't really work in the long run.

It is common knowledge for everyone engaged in a 12-step program that appetites satisfied over and over again can take over a person's life. But pleasure can never appease the deeper hunger within, and a merely physical solution to loneliness can easily turn into sexual addiction, which itself is a misdiagnosis.

Unless we deal with loneliness as a spiritual problem, we won't be able to quiet the yearning of the soul. Prayer, then, is a real remedy for the problem of loneliness. (Trust me even if you don't understand it.)

Thankfully, we are not left alone to our own devices; we are not poor, helpless creatures. Even though we remain restless in our isolation, we know that the Lord abides in us!

For some people, loneliness can be tormenting. For most, it is merely an annoyance, a passing thing. But for those who love God, it is the springboard of prayer.

Peace and joy come from the knowledge of God's love.