The many people who have not heard or heeded the various presentations of the gospel cannot be expected to understand the need for human suffering, for the Church herself has scarcely comprehended the mystery of evil. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges:
“It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but we know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him”881
This chapter is setting out how the devil’s mischief works for our good, but the Church will not perceive or be able to explain the need for human suffering if she does not pay heed to what Scripture testifies are the future roles and responsibilities that she as Bride may share with her Royal Husband. And as more and more within the churches are grasping, the rest of human creation is not to be assigned to oblivion (or worse); it too is suffering for a purpose. In terms of the elect and those they may come to rule, it is a question of ordering and staging within the process of the enlightenment and deification of humanity so that all might come to share in the felicity of the children of God.
It is surely right and just that human beings endure the trials that they do in view of the privileges that await them. All will suffer at some point for everyone must be salted882.
But it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil883; better to be a miserable beggar like Lazarus and be comforted in the spirit after death than to live a careless life of ease like “Dives” who must suffer for much longer: “Remember that in your lifetime you received good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, so now he is comforted whilst you are tormented”884. And the Master again: “Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation now”885. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom: those who respect God through religious creed or conscience make the better choices for their eternal welfare. Yet he who would valiant be let him come hither, for it is finest of all to suffer for Christ: “For 879 Jam1:2-4
880 Heb12:10-11
881 Catechism of the Catholic Church #395 http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/395.htm
882 Mk9:49
883 1Pet3:17
884 Lk16:25
885 Lk6:24
135
our light affliction which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”886. So shall every sacrifice be seasoned with salt887.
Being unaware of these matters it is hardly surprising that the world along with many less enlightened Christians hanker for something very different: a life as free of suffering as possible. Christians should recognize that life in the present, though not without its blessings, is merely the birth pangs888 leading up to the glories that await those who love God or are capable of doing so once they apprehend His glory. In that same passage, Paul refers to the involuntary aspect of the human predicament:
“For creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice but by the will
of the One who subjected it, in certain hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage and decay and be brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God”889
It was in accordance with divine providence that His creation be submitted to frustration and vanity. God well knew the outcome would be even better for all and would demonstrate His glory and grace more fully than if events had taken a different course, and humanity will have been better prepared for the challenges they are to face in the future890.
Human suffering will not have been wasted; not only will it be compensated for at the individual level but will have been the efficacious means by which the souls of frail children of dust could be disciplined, shaped and extended for a future experience that will include for some, not only worship and adoration from afar but an immediate and intimate association with the Lord of Glory891.
Such is the wisdom of God, and such was the role for evil and the realm of darkness.
Its prince’s mischief has been utilized by God as grist to prepare children of dust for a glorious inheritance. There are related truths that are both observable and borne out by Scripture: the greater the pain, the greater the joy. If every day were the first day of spring how diminished it would be if winter had not first been endured. It appears sweeter to regain something that was lost than if it had been there all the time. This is evident in the parable of the prodigal: the wayward son returning home to his father was more cause for celebration than the one who had remained faithful. The angels rejoice more over one sinner that repents than ninety-nine not needing repentance.
This is linked to another motif traceable in Scripture: divide to reconcile. Through God’s inscrutable providence it applied to man’s broken relationship with His Maker, reconciled and restored through Christ. God’s first choice for the Kingdom the Jewish people failed to appreciate the day of their visitation allowing Gentile members into that privileged role; the partition having been broken down between Jew and Gentile through the cross to create one divine assembly. And it is to be hoped before too long, the Western Church -
divided through internal corruption and a break-away movement; Mother and her 886 2Cor4:17
887 Mk9:49b (some textual variants) https://Biblehub.com/interlinear/mark/9-49.htm
888 Rom8:22
889 Rom8:20-21
890 Cf. Rev2:26-28
891 Mt20:23
136
separated children reconciled892, bringing with them the untold wealth contained in Christ’s gospel, the full extent of which may yet have remained undiscovered had the Church never divided and gone its separate ways. Through God’s wisdom it was deemed fitting that ecclesiological unity be re-established from division and plurality rather than a historically maintained integrity. Likewise, may Western Christianity be re-affiliated with Eastern so that once again the Church breathes with both lungs. All in time for the greatest reconciliation of all: the whole created order purged, restored and re-united with its Creator. Division always involves suffering for the parties involved, but the joy seems all the sweeter when they are united at last.