One of the most frequent queries one hears is the one that has to do with the problem of evil. Even the good and the most practising among the faithful are often harassed by the problem:
"Why does a good God permit evil in the world, especially with people who are good and practising Christians?" Some non-Christian religions refer the existence of evil to the kind of god they worship, who takes vengeance on those who do not show him due respect or is jealous of their achievements in life. Others just attribute the origin of evil in the world to chance, to blind destiny. Others still believe that the existence of evil is simply God's punishment for our sins.
It is quite unfortunate that this last view on the origin of evil is quite often to be found also among Christians, notwithstanding their sincere efforts to lead a good life and do God's will in everything.
Our Lord was aware that the problem of evil was harassing many good people and would continue to do so. It was therefore important for him to deal with it in the course of his preaching. Among other things, he recalled to them a quite recent historical event. "What of those 18 men on whom the tower fell in Siloe, and killed them? Do you suppose that there was a heavier account against them than against any others who then dwelt in Jerusalem?"
What Jesus really wanted was to help his disciples (including ourselves, I suppose) to avoid giving a false, and therefore a non-Christian, interpretation to the problem of evil which, as we know, continues to harass everyone, including ourselves. Evil is very often attributed to fatality or destiny. Sometimes you even hear people say that evil in the world is God's punishment for sin, for the evil which we see perpetrated everywhere in the world. In the light of this, one is not surprised when hearing or reading about the efforts of people, often enough followers of Christ, who go out of their way to pacify God's vengeance through prayer and acts of mortification, and also through devotions of dubious origin.
But, thank God, there is also the Christian interpretation of the problem of evil. God too has a place in this interpretation. A genuine Christian will above all relate the existence of evil to God, to a God who does not want evil, but allows it to take place so as to draw good out of it. God alone is absolutely perfect. Anything below God is necessarily limited and imperfect in some ways or others. And this is so when we think about the material world, including our own human bodies, our own actions and efforts. All of which is often attributed to sin and to man's evil use of God's creatures. But still more frequently it comes from our own limitations as human beings, who are often enough subject to sin and its evil consequences.
The whole concept of God's punishment for our sins is entirely alien to the authentic Christian interpretation of the problem of evil. God is love. He is not there to punish us for our sins, but to save us. He nonetheless permits us to suffer for our own benefit, especially when suffering becomes a source of purification and brings us closer to God. Christ's Passion and death on the cross became the means of our salvation, and through suffering we too can associate ourselves with the crucified Christ to be able to share in his victory. Those, on the other hand, who reject God in this life, will only get what they themselves have chosen: an eternity without God.