THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany 9 February 2014

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friend,

The evil in this world is permitted by God for two principle reasons. First, God has given us a free will and He honors it even when we use it wrongly. Secondly, God is able in His infinite wisdom and power to make greater good come from the evil He has allowed.

Man has been given a great gift from God in his free will. With our free will we have been placed above all the rest of the physical creation. All the rest of the physical universe is without a free will and acts, through necessity, according to its nature. Love is the giving of our will to another. Consequently only man has the capacity to love. The other lesser creatures may possess affection, but they do not have a free will and therefore cannot truly love. Accordingly, man is the only physical creature that can hate or put his will in opposition to another.

The free will therefore has become a two-edged sword. It is given to man so that he can unite his will freely with God's and thus be capable of love. Man however is also free to refuse this union and love and thus bring sin and evil into the world. Because men are not isolated beings but members of one large family, we see that one man's sin affects not only himself but also the rest of men. The cumulative sins of individual men bring a corresponding evil upon the entire body of mankind. We therefore all suffer the consequences of one another's sins and in this way evil is brought into our lives; even though we may be innocent of a particular sin. God allows this evil because He desires us to have a free will and to be able to love Him, which is a greater good than the permitted evil.

When God allows suffering, pain, or sorrow to enter into our lives, it is because He desires to give us even greater good things. The evil that we have to suffer from time to time is a good thing because it gives us the opportunity to do penance for our sins; and it gives us the opportunity to lovingly take up our cross and follow Jesus. What God takes away from us, He replaces with much greater things (If we will cooperate with Him).

The evils of this world are a constant reminder to us that we are not made for this world. We are only passing through this world. This world is not our home. Without the difficulties of this life, we would soon grow complacent and never seek a better life in heaven. We should therefore, give thanks to God for everything we receive: both the good and the bad. If God gives us riches, or poverty; health or sickness; etc. we must realize that it is all for our ultimate good, and always offer Him praise and thanksgiving. In this way, everything becomes good for us. All things work for the good of those who love God.

Today's Gospel also reminds us to be patient with the evils that He allows to befall us. We must bear patiently the burdens that others impose upon us. Those who today are evil and cause us great pain or suffering, may tomorrow turn out to be one of the greatest of penitents. They also give us the opportunity to grow in grace through the practice of the virtue of patience.

It is possible that an evil man is permitted to live because he is of benefit to someone whom God loves. Evil men in this way provide a good to the rest of society even against their own wills. It is also possible for an evil man have children that will be good. Many times the goodness of one generation greatly outweighs the evil of the other generation. Many of the saints were born to Pagan parents. Some of the great martyrs of the Church were sent to Heaven by their own Pagan parents. The persecutors of the martyrs intended a great evil (the destruction of the Church and faith in Christ), but God drew from this a much greater good and blessing. The martyrs went to eternal happiness in Heaven, and the Church here on earth was given another saint and intercessor in Heaven.

We face the problem of evil in the world every day. The devils want us to focus our attention upon the evil rather than the goodness that God draws from it, or the justness of it as a punishment for sin. We must constantly remind ourselves that there is no evil for those who love God. If we truly love God and unite our wills with His, we will receive eagerly and lovingly whatever divine providence sends our way. The apparent injustices in this life will be perfectly balanced out in eternity. Heaven will be opened up for only those who have used their free will to love God and have avoided using their free will to oppose His will.