I found this passage of the Catechism of the Catholic Church particularly encouraging.
 |
St. Leo I, Pope
and Doctor of the Church,
ruled 440-461 |
"But why did God not prevent the first man from sinning? St. Leo the Great responds,
"Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those the demon's envy had taken away." [St. Leo the Great,
Sermo 73, 4: Patrologia Latina 54, 3396] And St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "There is nothing to prevent human nature's being raised up to something greater, even after sin;
God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good. Thus St. Paul says, 'Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more'; and the Exultet sings, 'O happy fault,...which gained for us so great a Redeemer!" [St. Thomas Aquinas,
Summa Theologica III, 1,3, ad 3; cf. Rom. 5:20] (
CCC 412)
Many people ask why, if there is a God, He permits evil to exist. Here's your answer. We have even more blessings, because of Christ's grace, than we would have had had the Fall not taken place. God draws the greater good despite the existence of evil. I found this answer profoundly timely. I hope this answer is as encouraging to others as it is to me.
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