Adam and Eve, our first parents, knew God in the Garden of Paradise.  Our first parents were perfectly happy in Paradise.  If they had not sinned, they would never have died or suffered from sickness and sorrow.  When the time came for their leaving the earth, they would have been taken body and soul to Heaven.[1]

God wanted Adam as head and representative of the human race to merit Heaven.  And so, after granting him His abiding grace, and blessing him with wonderful gifts, and giving him the Garden of Paradise to live in, He commanded him not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree.[2]

“Of every tree of Paradise, thou shalt eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death” (Gen. 2:16, 17).  The fruit of the forbidden tree was not evil in itself, for in Paradise God did not place anything bad.  The fruit itself was not bad but the picking of the fruit was forbidden; and if Adam and Eve partook of it, they would have disobeyed God.[3]

Adam and Eve did not obey the commandment of God, but ate of the forbidden fruit.[4]

On account of their sin Adam and Eve lost sanctifying grace, the right to Heaven, and their special gifts; they became subject to death, to suffering, to a strong inclination to evil, and were driven from the Garden of Paradise.[5]

On account of the sin of Adam, we, his descendants, come into the world deprived of sanctifying grace and inherit his punishment, as we would have inherited his gifts had he been obedient to God.[6]

God punished Adam and Eve for the sin they committed.  “And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.” (Gen. 3:23).[7]

All mankind must suffer for the sin of Adam because he was the head and representative of the whole human family.[8]

Because of original sin, heaven was closed to all men until the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our Lord instituted the sacrament of Baptism in order to restore to us the right to Heaven that Adam had lost.[9]

Because of Adam’s sin, we were also cast out of Paradise, deprived of complete happiness, and relegated to a life of suffering.  The mere fact that man was cast out of Paradise means suffering in a world of wars, bad weather, hard work, poor health, and death.  God was completely just in punishing the whole human race with a life of suffering.  But He is also a very loving and generous God and, in effect, gave us a second chance to earn Heaven by His coming to earth and suffering and dying for us.  So, we are given this second opportunity to earn Heaven through a life of suffering which can even be satisfying if done for the love of God.  For with God, nothing that is suffered for His sake, no matter how small, can pass without reward. 

Be prepared for the fight, then, if you wish to gain the victory.  Without struggle you cannot obtain the crown of patience, and if you refuse to suffer you are refusing the crown.  But if you desire to be crowned, fight manfully and bear up patiently.  Without labor there is no rest, and without fighting, no victory.[10]

Some believe they can avoid suffering by the use of drugs or alcohol, but this only results in more severe suffering.  We must realize our second chance to earn Heaven is through our willingness to suffer for God as He so willingly suffered for us during His life on earth and during His Passion.  He demonstrated how to suffer willingly and lovingly. 

It is important to suffer in silence as Our Lord did.  To complain about how you suffer in order to receive sympathy from others is counter-productive.  So, suffer in silence for the love of God.

I recommend you recite each day the following prayer:

O my God, from this moment forward I accept with a joyful and resigned heart, the death [and life] You will be pleased to send me, with all its pains, sufferings, and anguish.[11]