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Believing in Jesus, accepting his gift of self on the cross, means opening our hearts to his crucified love and allowing God the Father’s mercy to transform us from within, to rescue us from our sins – that is – the works of darkness, to open the eyes of our soul to the light of God’s truth and love, to transform us from those who love God half-heartedly into those who are truly disciples of Jesus and bearers of his love to the world.

What we are about this evening is so much more than what might appear to an unknowing onlooker. We are in fact responding to the call of our dear Pope Francis, the man of peace and reconciliation, “to be bold and creative, joyful and hopeful in [our] commitment to continue the great journey ahead of us.”

This is a pretty good thing for us to think about as Lent winds down: to give God the credit, the thanks, the praise, the adoration, by spending time in prayer, by attending Mass devoutly, and whenever possible eucharistic adoration.

This afternoon I don’t have to craft a thirty second elevator speech but I have been asked to deal with the vast topic of atheism in forty-five minutes. I can do that adequately but I can at least offer you some reflections so that you can write your own “elevator speech” – your own succinct and convincing summary designed to help unbelievers to seek and find the face of God. Consider this talk, then, “a pastor’s introduction” to the contemporary problem of atheism and unbelief, beginning with my own introduction to the topic many years ago.

In less than a minute, Jesus cut to the chase, the core of the Law, the Torah, with its 613 prescriptions – with all its laws, rules, and regulations. The Lord not only summed them up but he was also the first to link so clearly love of God and love of neighbor.