G od created man with free will. He allows Sin and permits People to Damn Themselves to manifest His Justice, Mercy, and Goodness—for His Greater Honor and Glory.

God allows evil for His greater glory and in order to bring about greater good. God allows some people to (voluntarily) sin and to damn themselves because their damnation manifests God’s Justice more clearly than if damnation had been something which never occurred but which we understood only as something that could have—but didn’t—ever happen.

Similarly, God’s Mercy and Goodness in saving the elect is more manifest in contrast to the actual damnation of other souls, since the damned very evidently manifest what could have happened to the elect, had God not chosen to save them, because of His Mercy and Goodness.

Although sin itself is evil, this universe which God made, in which He allows sin and damnation, is a better universe as a whole, because it manifests God’s Mercy, Goodness and Justice better than if there had been no sin. By better manifesting God’s perfections, the universe gives greater Glory to God. For God’s only end is His Own Glory, that is, Himself. Any other end (less than God) is unworthy of God.

Thus, we see that, for His own Glory and to manifest His perfections, God saves some persons and gives them happiness. Likewise, for His own Glory and to manifest His perfections, God allows some persons to damn themselves and be unhappy.

God chooses the elect, whereas the damned, with their free will, cause their own damnation.

God can and does save anyone He wishes to save. God never forces anyone to sin and never forces anyone to damn himself. However, there are some men that God allows to damn themselves.

Sacred Scripture infallibly declares:

The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever He will He shall turn it.

Proverbs 21:1 (emphasis added).

When this passage from Proverbs says God turns the heart of the king “whithersoever He will”, it shows that whenever God chooses to save the king (or anyone else), He does it without forcing a man’s free will. Notice that Sacred Scripture does not say that God can turn the heart of the king unless the king is one of those unconvertable souls. There is no such thing (among the living) as a soul which God could not convert. Although God can convert anyone, He allows some men to damn themselves. St. Thomas Aquinas and other Doctors of the Catholic Church teach these same truths.

In a certain way, it is true that God Wills all men to be saved, but this is (as it were) a “contingent will” or “antecedent will” subject to a condition that was not fulfilled.

St. Paul teaches that God “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4. However, God wills all men to be saved upon a condition which was not fulfilled, viz., that there be no sin.

Because sin entered the world, God’s eternal, unconditional Will (i.e., His “subsequent” Will) is that some persons are not saved and are not even “called” through grace. Our Lord teaches: “many [not all] are called but few are chosen.” St. Matthew’s Gospel, 22:14 (bracketed words added).

Also, Our Lord teaches us that most people go to hell and few people even find the path to salvation (much less follow this path):

Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!

St. Matthew’s Gospel, 7:13-14 (emphasis added).

Among the examples of men that God could have saved but chose not to save (or even give them any grace), are babies who die without baptism, and also “the profane Samaritans [whom], had He so willed, He would have made devout” (words of St. Ambrose, quoted in the note above).

Absolutely and unconditionally speaking, God does not desire all men to be saved but Wills to allow some men to damn themselves through their own free will.

Although God Wills (in a manner of speaking) to save all men, subject to a condition which was not fulfilled, unconditionally God Wills to bring about His greater glory by saving the elect He has chosen and He Wills to allow the damned to damn themselves by their own voluntary sins. This is why Our Lord did not pray for everyone, in His prayer to His Father after the Last Supper. Here are His words to His Heavenly Father:

I have manifested Thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and to me thou gavest them; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known, that all things which thou hast given me, are from thee: Because the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine ....

St. John’s Gospel, 17:6-9.

God chooses His Elect. They don’t choose Him. As Christ told His Apostles, who were the beginning of His Church:

You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you ....

St. John’s Gospel, 15:16.

Since it is false that Christ desires absolutely and unconditionally that all men are saved, we should not hope to fulfill Christ’s (supposed) desire for universal salvation, promoted by the liberal N-SSPX and by the rest of the conciliar church.

We should not hope for impossible things. So, for example, we should not hope we become angelic spirits or that we sprout wings and fly into the air. Likewise, it is impossible for all men to be saved and so we should not hope for universal salvation, but rather we should hope to help bring about the salvation of whomever God chooses to save from their own voluntary sins.

We don’t know with certainty which people around us God chooses as His elect, so God Wills that we try to help everyone save his soul, although we know God does not choose to save everyone but allows some men to damn themselves.

Also, as shown above, Our Lord does not Will unconditionally that all men go to heaven. If He had chosen to save all men, He could have saved them since He can turn their hearts “whithersoever He will” (Proverbs). Instead God allows some men to damn themselves. (It is important to note that God does not damn souls but He allows them to damn themselves!)

Thus, we see that the N-SSPX is wrong when it recently taught that we should hope to fulfill Christ’s desire for universal salvation. Here are the N-SSPX’s words:

Only when the Church is brought back to full health can we hope to fulfill Christ’s desire that all men come to know Him and find salvation. Supporting the SSPX is about bringing the Gospel to all of those with ears to hear in the hope that, by God’s grace, hearts will be converted, and souls saved.

Conclusion

The elect in heaven have great reason to be humble and grateful, since, in God’s Goodness and Mercy, He gave them the undeserved, free gifts of grace and salvation. God was not obligated to give them grace and not obliged to choose them as His elect.

We hope to save our souls and hope to be among God’s elect. We have great reason to be humble and grateful because God gave us grace and made us Catholics without our deserving these free gifts. Thus, we must humbly beg God that He choose us to be among His elect.

Let us Glorify God for the Goodness and Mercy He showed us by making us Catholics, giving us the full Traditions of His true Church!