Q: I need help explaining something to my teenage and early-20s sons. It is so hard to understand how some people have a lifetime to make mistakes and live outside God’s will, turn their backs on their Catholic upbringing, and then have a beautiful reversion story late in life, while others die while still young and fully immersed in a life of sin. Of course, my sons understand that “Life’s not fair.” But on a deeper level, how do you explain and come to terms with this reality? – K.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: There is no easy answer to your question. Things sometimes seem inexplicable, from our limited perspective.
Our faith, however, tells us that God loves everyone and wishes the best for everyone. Indeed, he “wills everyone to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Moreover, “God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The point here is that God isn’t unfair to anyone. He gives us all the necessary grace we need to reach heaven. But he won’t force his love on us. He respects our freedom.
Jesus warns us to be ever diligent. “‘This night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’” (Luke 12:20).
As to the two cases you mention: While late-life conversions are possible, we shouldn’t presume that they are very common. People tend to die as they live. And as for young people who die in sin, it’s possible that God is sparing them from even worse sin.
This is speculative, of course. We won’t really understand what was going on under the surface until the Final Judgment.
God’s plan for the world was that it be peaceful. The suffering and evil we see around us is the result of man’s sin.
All of us are in a spiritual battle. We do well to take our duties to God seriously.