You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Sprouts. Today is Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020. This week on the Catholic Spouts, we are talking about the pandemic that we are all living through right now and answering the key question that Christians have

been struggling with since the beginning of time.

And that question is this, how does God, or why does God, the God of love, allow evil to happen?

We have already talked about how someone dying is not God's plan, not his direct plan,

and how with each act of creation, God gave up some of his control, especially when he created

human beings and gave them free will. When God created nature, he laid down certain rules, and he sees it fit to let the

earth unfold according to those natural processes, whether it be causing an earthquake or the

mutation of a virus that threatens the entire world. Now, today we are going to continue to talk about this. The difference between

God's perfect will and his permissive will. Now, these are big words, and we're going to talk about

them. So it's important to understand that God does have a plan. He has a plan for you, for your family, for your community,

your school, your church, the world. God does have a plan. And because God is perfect, that

plan is perfect. That plan includes joy. It includes a wonderful peace. It includes us resting in him. It includes

his plan is that each and every person be saved and that every human being that ever was born

would join him eternally in heaven. That is God's plan. But God, through his goodness, does not

push us around to make sure that his plan is achieved. Instead, he gives us a choice. He gives us

free will. With every breath that we take, we can choose to walk toward God or to walk away from God.

And whether you are a great follower of Jesus or not, chances are sometimes you choose to walk away from God.

Some people choose to live their life, denying that

God even exists. This is not God's perfect plan. It is part of God's permissive plan, though.

Now, what does it mean to be permissive? Permissive means that you allow something to happen. It's not your choice. It's not your

plan, but you don't stop it from happening. In the same way, it is not what God wants, that people

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