In fact, over the years I've found that the best part of an evening like tonight comes after the formal remarks, in the questions and conversation that happen later. So let me offer you some comments, and then we can move on to the really interesting part. I want to pose two questions to frame the evening. I think we'll find the answer to that in the Catholic understanding of repentance, which is rooted in Scripture. Nobody can erase the past.
Nobody can bring back the dead.
Jews living today can't forgive sins committed against the dead. And Catholics living today resist being held responsible for sins committed before they were born. That's a recipe for talking past each other. The identity of Jesus is the obvious one. I want to dwell on this for a few minutes because it's the foundation of everything we're talking about tonight.