Wanting for nothing

Deuteronomy 32:35 Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time

Why does God allow the sinner to prosper? We all know of people who possess no faith, totally rejecting God and all His goodness, yet go merrily about their lives wanting for nothing. They amass sin upon sin, yet there never seems to be any consequences for their misdeeds. Their spiritual life is void, but temporally, they have it all. Good luck seems to befall them in all they do. God does not rain chastisements down on their heads; in fact He seems to ignore them.

Indeed, that is exactly what He is doing. According to St. Alphonsus de Liquori, in his book Preparation for Death, if God does not send such sinners a sudden death, making them die in their sins, He will instead deprive them of His abundant graces, leaving them only with sufficient grace with which they can, but will not, save their souls. When God deprives a soul of His grace, there is nothing to protect it from the temptations and onslaughts of the devil. The sinner, abandoned, then despises God, opening his soul to evil. Their obstinacy in sin, harness of heart and the blindness of their understanding, says Alphonsus, will render their salvation morally impossible.

God does not chastise these sinners in this life, appearing instead to allow them all they desire, but will punish them instead in the next world, says St. Alphonsus. According to this holy author, who calls this practice abuse of Divine Mercy, they will suffer as many hells as they have committed sins.