“IF WE see Job sitting on a dunghill, Joseph loaded with chains in a dungeon, David reviled by Semei,–in a word, if we see a just man suffering, we immediately cry out in astonishment, How unhappy, how much to be pitied is that man! Blind mortals as we are, we call those unhappy who suffer; whilst Jesus Christ says, “Blessed are they that mourn.” (Matt, v, 5.) Where is our faith? If God afflicts the just man, it is because He loves him; for, if He loved him less, He would treat him as he does the fortunate men of this world: he would permit him to enjoy the pleasures of this world, to be deluded with the world, to be perverted with the world; and the day would come when He would judge, condemn, and punish him with the world. Sufferings are the mark of the elect. Whoever shall not be stamped with this sacred character shall never enter into that kingdom which Christ gained for us by His sufferings. We are all children of Calvary. It is there that Jesus Christ regenerated us with His blood. This tender, this dying Father left us no other inheritance, at His departure out of this world, than His cross and His grace. Let us accept this precious pledge of His love with a grateful heart; let us preserve it with humility and care. We shall one day gather with joy the undying fruit and reward of it. The saints never felt more happy than when God sent them afflictions. They believed most firmly that, the more they suffered in this life, the greater would be their reward in the next. Hence the martyrs went with the greatest joy to the place of execution, remembering what our dear Lord has said: “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you untruly, for my sake. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.” (Matt, v, 11, 12.)”

— Fr. Michael Mueller, The Providence of God and Why He Permits Evil; 1877

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