Derya M. Little has a PhD in politics from Durham University, England and an MA in history from Bilkent University, Turkey. Her articles on foreign affairs have appeared in academic journals and Catholic World Report. She converted from Islam to Catholicism in her early twenties, and now is living in Pennsylvania with her husband and three children. She is the author of the book From Islam to Christ: One Woman’s Path through the Riddles of God published by Ignatius Press.... Read more
Creation is good, says St. Leo the Great, and we should praise the Creator for its beauties. But the world to come is far greater. Use the things of this world properly, but don’t let them capture all your attention. Wake up and recognize the dignity of your nature! Remember that you were made in the image of God—which, although it was corrupted in Adam, was still re-molded in Christ. Use the visible things of creation as they should be... Read more
St. Gregory of Nyssa gives us a daunting assignment: study the attributes of the Father, then learn to be like him. After baptism, we are called God’s children. Therefore we should carefully examine our Father’s characteristics, so that, by molding and framing ourselves in the likeness of our Father, we may appear true children of him who calls us to adoption by grace. For the illegitimate son who belies his father’s nobility in what he does is a sad reproach.... Read more
Catholics get a bad rap from denominational faiths that we do not utilize or dive deep into the scriptures. We know this to be furthest from the truth as at a minimum we hear the Word proclaimed every week at Mass. Could we use more time in Scripture however? Certainly, we all could, myself included. However, this may seem like a daunting task. Thankfully Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers and Sonja Corbitt come to the rescue in their book Ignite: Read the... Read more
God made human beings in the image of God. St. Irenaeus reminds us that we are a special creation. The story in Genesis tells how God spoke all other things into being, but formed human beings with his own hands. God by His Word has created the whole world, and to all the world he has given laws in which each different thing should exist, and according to what is determined by God should not pass their bounds, each fulfilling... Read more
Writing to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius, St. Justin Martyr explains how Christians are supposed to behave. We please God, he says, when we imitate God’s virtues and act in a way worthy of our marvelous creation. Our tradition tells us that God does not need the material offerings humans can give him, since he himself is the one who provides everything. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and believe, that he accepts only those who imitate his... Read more
You can be truly free from rules and laws, says St. Ephrem the Syrian, if you order your life the way nature itself teaches you to order it. Yoke yourself under the law, so that you may truly be free. Do not work the desire of your soul apart from God. How many commandments must I write—how many laws must I engrave— when, if you desire your freedom, you could learn them all from yourself ? And if you love... Read more
Kathleen Glavich has taught every grade from first to twelfth. When her first article was published, the writing bug bit her and she is now a full-time author and editor. In response to that first article, a bishop in Nigeria sent her a letter in which he quoted Mother Teresa: “Write, for if your writing should make anyone more aware of God and their neighbour, then you must write.” Kathleen went on to have over seventy books published as well... Read more
Wherever you are, says St. Ephrem the Syrian, seal everything you do with the Sign of the Cross, and teach your children to do the same. How gracious is the Lord! How measureless are His mercies! Happy the race of mortals when God confesses it! Woe to the soul that he denies! Fire is stored up for its punishment. Be of good cheer, my child, in hope; sow good seed and do not despair. The farmer sows in hope, and... Read more
St. John Cassian recalls the wise words of the abbot Daniel in the Egyptian desert. Why do we sometimes feel so close to God, and other times so far away? Don’t despair, says Daniel: even in those dry spells, God has your benefit in mind. We asked this blessed Daniel why it was that as we sat in the cells we were sometimes filled with the utmost gladness of heart, together with inexpressible delight and abundance of the holiest feelings,... Read more
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