IN THIS EPISODE The Attraction of Joy

Guest Derya Little shares how witnessing the joy of Christians was the primary impetus for her conversion from Islam to Catholicism. She reads from St. Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortion, Gaudete Domino (On Christian Joy).

WRITING PROMPT    Christ found daily joy in the lilies of the field, in the man who find a lost treasure, in a father embracing his prodigal son,  the woman finding her lost coin, in little children coming to him, in a marriage ceremony.Take a moment to write down three ways you experienced joy today. How was each moment a gift from God? Write ways you might share that joy with others as a witness to your faith.

About the Guest

Born and raised in Muslim Turkey, Derya Little, rejected her family’s Islamic faith and became an atheist. During a stormy adolescence, she tried to convince a Christian missionary that there is no God. But because of the joy she saw in Christians, she was converted instead. During her doctoral studies in England, she entered the Catholic Church.She now is an evangelizer, blogger, podcaster, and author of a memoir and young adult novels. This is the article she references in the interview: expressing her joy about her membership in her “weird and wonderful” church.