The Accidental Thomist

Thomas Aquinas didn’t open my eyes to Christianity, nor to the truth of the Catholic Church. In fact, I didn’t really start to appreciate him until I was already on my way into the Church. He became my patron saint, because no other saint could’ve done it–at least not in the same way. I was first exposed to St. Thomas’ writing in an introductory philosophy class, and we basically tore his writing apart--or we thought we did. I was not impressed, and I regarded him negatively for quite a while. Many  years later I discovered that there were people who actually took his writing seriously. Further, that there were philosophers called "Thomists" who extensively studied his work, adhered to his philosophy, and applied it to great effect. I never thought I'd be a Catholic, and I never thought I'd be a "Thomist", but deep searching for the truth has made me both.