Does God punish his children with physical illness?

[mrsmitchp]

In light of Pat Robertson’s most recent controversial statements about Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s illness as a punishment from God, I have been been wondering what the Catholic perspective on this would be.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

While it is possible that God could choose to punish someone with a physical illness, as he did to Miriam for speaking against Moses (Num. 12:5-15), it is uncharitable in the extreme for a human being to presume to speculate that another human being’s illness is God’s punishment. This is especially the case when the alleged punishment is the result of a matter of prudential judgment and not personal morality, as in this case, in which Robertson apparently speculated that Sharon’s illness was the result of Sharon’s decision to withdraw Israel from Gaza (source).