“Like Saint John, Theresa sees that God, who is Love, and Love alone - "God is Charity" (John iv, 8) - does not will and never has willed our suffering for its own sake. He wills it, indeed, but as it were against His will, with what we theologians would term (but how cold it sounds after the intuitive language of Theresa) His subsequent will. Sin, having made suffering necessary, God wills it, but, even then, He only wills it by Love, as being the necessary means to lead men to love Him, to find their blessedness in loving Him . . . He wills it only in view of something else, in view of man's happiness - a painful remedy, but, man's egoism being what it is, one necessary for the health and happiness of his soul.” SufferingCatholicCatholicismCatholic Spirituality Book:A Retreat with St. Therese Source: A Retreat with St. Therese