“Creation has its origins in God’s own overflowing goodness. It is purely a gift, ‘grace’ in a sense. It did not have to be there and its existence has no other purpose than the reflection and manifestation of God’s goodness.”
Carlo Leget, Living with God: Thomas Aquinas on the Relation between Life on Earth and ‘Life’ after Death (Thomas Insitituut Utrecht, 1997) 70.