In today’s readings, we move deeper into how God makes Himself known—through reason, conscience, and lived dependence. Thomas Aquinas begins by clarifying what it means to say that God exists in things: not as a part of them, nor as one being among others, but as the sustaining cause by which all things are present, active, and held in being. Augustine then turns inward, exposing how sin is often less about the object desired than the corrupt joy of shared rebellion, revealing how disordered love fractures both the soul and friendship. Finally, Calvin lifts our eyes to the created world itself, arguing that God has so openly displayed His glory in the structure and governance of creation that ignorance is no excuse—only suppression. Together, these readings show that God is neither distant nor hidden, but relentlessly present, confronting us through reason, memory, and the very world we inhabit.

Readings:

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 8 — On the Existence of God in Things (Articles 1–3, Combined)

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 9 (Section 17)

John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 5 (Sections 1–4)

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Today’s readings press us to see how finitude, freedom, and obedience are meant to work together under God rather than against Him. Ignatius exhorts the Magnesians to live not in name only but in truth, calling them to harmony under their bishop, unity in love, and readiness to die into the passion of Christ, since life and death are set before every believer as real and present choices. Augustine then exposes the social contagion of sin, confessing that his theft was not driven by desire for the fruit itself but by the perverse pleasure of shared rebellion, showing how companionship can deepen corruption when love is misdirected. Aquinas completes the picture by teaching that no creature can be essentially infinite, because every created thing receives its being in a limited way, while God alone is infinite in essence as being itself. Together, these readings reveal that disorder enters when finite creatures seek fullness apart from God, but true life is found where obedience, humility, and love are ordered back to the One who alone is without limit.

Readings:

Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Magnesians, Chapters 1–6

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 8 (Section 16)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 7, Article 2

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Today’s readings confront the contrast between divine fullness and human distortion, showing how truth, repentance, and right doctrine guard the Church from decay. Ignatius warns the Ephesians with urgency that false teaching corrupts more deeply than moral failure, calling them to cling to the cross, to the hidden mysteries of Christ’s incarnation, and to unity around the bishop as the medicine of immortality. Augustine turns inward and gives thanks that God not only forgives sins committed but mercifully restrains sins never carried out, confessing that his theft was driven less by desire than by the twisted delight of shared rebellion. Aquinas then provides the metaphysical foundation beneath both voices, arguing that God alone is infinite—not through lack, but through fullness—since He is pure act, unlimited by matter or potentiality. Together, these readings show that evil thrives where truth is abandoned, sin is loved for its own sake, and God’s infinite goodness is misunderstood, but life and stability are found where the soul returns to God, the Church guards sound teaching, and creation is understood as flowing from the limitless perfection of its Creator.

Readings:

Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapters 16–20 (Middle Recension)

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapters 7–8 (Sections 15–16)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 7, Article 1

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Today’s readings press us into a single, searching question: if all things come from God and are therefore good, how do we explain the soul’s strange attraction to sin, division, and corruption? Ignatius exhorts the Ephesians to remain unified, peaceable, and rooted in Christ, warning that deception thrives where believers fail to gather, pray, and live out faith through love and humility. Augustine then turns inward and exposes the darker mystery of the heart, confessing that he once loved evil not for gain, pleasure, or advantage, but simply because it was forbidden—a counterfeit imitation of divine freedom that led only to emptiness and death. Aquinas provides the theological grounding beneath both voices, arguing that all things are good insofar as they exist, since being itself comes from God, while evil is not a substance but a privation—a lack of the good that ought to be there. Together, these readings show that sin does not arise because creation is evil, but because the human will turns away from the highest good, mistaking absence for freedom and corruption for power.

Readings:

Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapters 8–15 (Middle Recension)

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 6 (Section 14)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 7, Article 4

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To call something good is never neutral, because goodness always reveals where our unity, desire, and trust are finally anchored. Ignatius writes to the Ephesians as a man on his way to martyrdom, urging them to cling to unity with their bishop and with one another, because communion with the Church is communion with Christ Himself, and division is never spiritually harmless. Augustine then exposes how vice is parasitic, showing that every sin is a distorted imitation of God—pride mimics God’s greatness, lust mimics His love, and envy mimics His excellence—yet only God truly possesses what sin pretends to grasp. Aquinas finally brings this to its metaphysical foundation by arguing that goodness belongs to God alone by essence, since He alone is being itself, while all created goodness exists only by participation, real yet dependent. Together, these readings teach us that goodness, unity, truth, and life are never self-generated: they flow from God alone and are preserved only by remaining joined to Him in love, order, and humility (John 15:5; James 4:6).

Readings:

Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapters 1–7

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 6 (Section 13)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 6, Article 3

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Sin often masquerades as freedom and goodness, yet it always collapses once we see that only God Himself can truly satisfy the human heart. In The Confessions, Augustine probes his own soul and asks why he delighted in stealing pears he did not want, discovering that his pleasure was not in the object but in the rebellion itself—a hollow love that imitated goodness while fleeing from the only true good, God Himself. Aquinas then clarifies this insight theologically by affirming first that God is good by His very essence, not by participation, and then going further to confess that God is the supreme good—the final end for which all other goods exist and toward which every created desire, rightly ordered or not, is ultimately drawn. Together, these readings expose the tragedy of disordered love and the hope of restored desire: we sin when we grasp at lesser goods as if they were ultimate, and we find rest only when our loves return to God, who alone is goodness itself and the highest good of all (Psalm 16:11; James 1:17).

Readings:

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 6 (Section 12)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 6, Article 1

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 6, Article 2

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What looks like cruelty, loss, or even evil only makes sense when seen against the deeper truth that God alone is good, and all created goods either cling to Him rightly or fall apart when loved in the wrong order. In The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, Perpetua shows us this truth lived out under pressure—choosing fidelity to God over family bonds, earthly security, and even her own life, while trusting that God’s goodness governs suffering, judgment, and mercy, as seen most poignantly in her prayer for her brother Dinocrates and the victory promised in her final vision. Augustine then explains why such choices are necessary, arguing that no one ever commits evil for evil’s sake, but always for the sake of some lesser good—wealth, power, revenge, or security—goods that become destructive when loved more than God. Aquinas brings these threads together by grounding them in God Himself, teaching that God is not merely good, but goodness itself, the source from which all created goodness flows, making it possible to affirm both God’s perfect goodness and the reality of suffering without contradiction (Psalm 34:8; James 1:17).

Readings:

The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, Chapters 2–3

Augustine, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 5 (Section 11)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 6, Article 1

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Faith is not preserved by nostalgia but proven when the same Spirit who strengthened the ancients is seen at work in later witnesses, calling the Church to endurance, right desire, and a clearer vision of the good. In The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, we hear the Church defend the living power of the Holy Spirit through the testimony of Perpetua herself—her unyielding confession before her father, the tenderness and agony of motherhood in prison, and the vision that taught her suffering, not escape, was the path appointed to her, revealing that what appears terrifying is often the very means by which God perfects His servants. Augustine then reflects on the nature of sin, showing that evil is never loved for its own sake but arises when good things—honor, beauty, friendship, power—are loved out of order, displacing God Himself, who alone is the true sweetness of the soul. Aquinas completes the movement by grounding all of this metaphysically, arguing that every being, insofar as it exists, is good, and that evil is not a substance but a privation of a good that ought to be present, helping us understand how martyrdom, temptation, and suffering can exist without denying God’s goodness, because even what is wounded still depends on the good that remains (Joel 2:28–29; Psalm 73:25–26).

Readings:

The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, Preface and Chapter 1

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions, Book 2, Chapter 5 (Section 10)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 5, Article 3

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