Expert: George A. Card,sfo, M.I - 2/18/2004

Question
dear george a. card,
it seems inconsistent that god's perfect love, as revealed in the bible, is spread by word of mouth. some people suffer entire lifetimes without companionship with jesus while others, (christians), enjoy the ultimate human experience in a daily walk with jesus. both god and non christians suffer due to this reality.
i'm not concerned with salvation, however. i suppose non believers go to heaven as god sees fit. my concern, rather, is during people's lifetimes on earth. why does god choose to enjoy love expressed by believers in their daily lives, while legions of lost live and die without knowing the gospel?
please don't say it's because the lost have rejected god's gift. while some have; others haven't heard or understood the good news.
thank you! i hope you understand my question, and that this email finds you well. i appreciate your help.
-troy (saunza@yahoo.com)

Answer
Dear Troy
 Thanks for the question(s). Your question seems to be multi-layered.I will address two of them at this time.
The first layer recalls to mind a very important set of questions, every one should honestly ask themselves and seek the answers to. What is the purpose of man? Are accountable in relation to that purpose?

The Catholic Bishops in the United States, in 1891 wrote a four-volume catechism. That is collective known as the Baltimore Catechism. It was written in a question and answer format. The sixth question in volume one is  “Why did make you?”  There simple but very profound answer:
“God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.”

 I believe if we seek to do those first three things we have a deep joy and perhaps a great deal of happiness also. By joy I mean an inner experience peace that is a grace from our all-loving Father. Happiness in my statement is sense of peace that stems from our attitudes and how they relate to the events that form our lives. Can a non-believer be happy in this world? Yes. Can a believer who is not walking in the way of the Gospel? I would venture to say no. Yet,I know when I am not living right, I  can fake it to point of fooling myself sometimes with false sense of Happiness.
Which I believe that when we read in Sacred Scripture(Ecclesiastes11: 9) It confirms what I just stated:

"Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things (NAB)"

Another Layer is the questions you indirectly ask by writing:

“ I'm not concerned with salvation, however. i suppose non believers go to
heaven as god sees fit. my concern, rather, is during people's lifetimes
on earth. why does god choose to enjoy love expressed by believers in
their daily lives, while legions of lost live and die without knowing the
gospel?

 In The Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church (846-848), approved by Pope John Paul II we read these words of Hope for the non-believer and confessor of Christ:

"Outside the Church there is no salvation"
How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

"Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it"

This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.
  Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."

The next paragraphs explain why the Church still has mandate to Preach the Gospel of Life, life eternal in Christ. I suggest u read them, here a link to catechism on line:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

In closing  I share the closing words of the Vatican II document APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity)

33. The most holy council, then, earnestly entreats all the laity in the Lord to answer gladly, nobly, and promptly the more urgent invitation of Christ in this hour and the impulse of the Holy Spirit. Younger persons should feel that this call has been directed to them especially and they should respond to it eagerly and generously. Through this holy synod, the Lord renews His invitation to all the laity to come closer to Him every day, recognizing that what is His is also their own (Phil. 2:5), to associate themselves with Him in His saving mission. Once again He sends them into every town and place where He will come (cf. Luke 10:1) so that they may show that they are co-workers in the various forms and modes of the one apostolate of the Church, which must be constantly adapted to the new needs of our times. Ever productive as they should be in the work of the Lord, they know that their labor in Him is not in vain (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).


Your Servant In Christ, But His First
      George a.k.a. rav Jerome 72

PS As for why good suffer, you might consider asking my friend:
Marvin C. Fox, who has insights for better then me and is list here also.