Words to Live by – from Catholic Tradition
The great value and advantage of suffering chastisements
St. Alphonsus de Liguori gives us these consoling words to encourage us to appreciate the Crosses we receive from the loving Hand of God:
“God”, say St. Augustine, “is angry when He does not scourge the sinner.” (In Ps., LXXXIX). When we see a sinner in tribulation in this life, we may infer that God wishes to have mercy on him in the next, and that He exchanges eternal for temporal chastisement. But miserable is the sinner whom the Lord does not punish in this life! For those whom He does not chastise here, He treasures up His wrath and for them He reserves eternal chastisement.
Quoted from St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Sermon #2, for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, first point, §10.