Why did God allow the Fall of Adam and Eve if He knew the suffering that would follow? If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, why didn’t He simply stop it?
In this talk Sister Marie Gabrielle confronts one of Christianity’s most difficult questions: the problem of evil.
Catholic teaching makes an essential distinction: God does not will evil as evil — He permits it because, in His providence, He can bring a greater good from it.
But Sister takes that answer somewhere deeply personal: What if one of the goods God intended to bring from the Fall was… you?
Without the Fall, human history would have unfolded differently. Your ancestry, relationships, experiences, vocation, influence, and place in history would not be the same. This leads to a fascinating question: What actually makes you “you”?
Drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas, Catholic philosophy, divine providence, and the saints, Sister explores personal identity, grace, suffering, happiness, contemplation, and God’s extraordinary love for every soul.
The mystery of evil ultimately points toward the mystery of mercy.
We were not created to be self-sufficient. We were created to depend upon God, receive His grace, return His love, and find our ultimate happiness in Him.
And when suffering makes us ask, “If God really loves me, why did He allow this?” — we are invited to look again at the Crucifix.
God wanted you to exist.
God loves you.
God desires your love.
And God desires your eternal happiness.
