The passions are natural components of the human psyche; they form the passageway and ensure the connection between the life of the senses and the life of the mind. Our Lord called man's heart the source from which the passions spring.
There are many passions. The most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed. The apprehension of evil causes hatred, aversion, and fear of the impending evil; this movement ends in sadness at some present evil, or in the anger that resists it.
"To love is to will the good of another." (Cf. Mk 7:21) All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. ...
In themselves passions are neither good nor evil ...1764 - 1767, The Morality of the Passions
Catechism of the Catholic Church
I've been reading the Catechism very, very slowly over a few years now and have gotten to the Life in Christ section. I continually admire the clarity and depth with which the Catechism puts things. In this case I was really struck by the idea that the passions connect our sense and mind. Of course. That makes so much sense but I'd never really thought about it before.
The whole section is worth reading if this also grabs your attention the way it grabbed mine.
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