This is strange, but I think there is some sense in which Thomas Merton and Simone Weil are my godparents. There are all the ways in which I identify with their writings. But then there are the funny things. For instance, that they both regularly attended my church for a time. Merton was baptized in the very same font that’s still in use at Corpus Christi. Weil refused to officially enter the Church for all the reasons I was sure I couldn’t until I realized that I can. And, like me, they were both “converted” at the age of 23.

I’d really like to write something about the two of them. Some sort of massive academic undertaking where I’d fill notebooks for years before trying to put it all together.