A Word on God & Suffering

This is sort of a follow-up post to "My Relationship With God Is Not An Abusive One."

Some atheists perceive the Catholic view on God & suffering as abusive. So let me address that.
First of all, God does not want anyone to suffer. Suffering is not part of His ordained will. To see His children suffer is the last thing He wants. You hate suffering?

Well, I've got some good news for you: God hates it too!

But suffering is a part of life, unfortunately.

And like any good parent, He hates seeing His children enslaved to things that hurt and destroy them.
He is not some batterer/abusive person who seeks to tear us down. He seeks to build and lift us up.

Authentic love is sacrificial. Even No Time To Die, the most recent James Bond movie, makes that clear when Bond sacrifices himself to protect his family.

And let me tell you: watching James die was very painful. He's one of my favorite characters, so, of course, it hurt me greatly, especially when I watched the film the first two times.

But I've also seen movies and TV shows featuring abusive relationships, so I understand where these atheists are coming from with the "abusive relationship" perception, even though such a perception is not rooted in reality.

 
In fact, the pastor of my parish gave a good homily recently and he said, "Christ hides himself in the Eucharist because he doesn't want to overwhelm us with his love,"

 
Folks, abusers aren't that sensitive and thoughtful towards their victims. And I have never been in an abusive relationship, thank Heavens. But I don't need to have been in order to know that abusers just aren't so considerate towards the needs and wants of their victims.