The great question of our time is does God exist? And how can God be considered merciful when the process of evolution, violence, death, and decay is so terrible? Preachers and teachers who do not take these challenges seriously are out of touch with what is going on in the world today.

Dr. Padovano presents the listener with an appreciation of the insights of Thomas Aquinas and their power to make a rational defense of God's existence. Like Thomas, he acknowledges that God's existence is not self-evident and ancient and contemporary objections to God's existence must be taken seriously. However, the rational defense of God's existence is a pale shadow of the knowledge of God available to us through faith, prayer, and mystical experience. It is from these perspectives that we are able to see the Universe itself, in all of its grandeur, beauty, and complexity as the handiwork of a loving God.

Drawing from the inspired literature of the Scriptures, he takes the listener on a journey of faith touching on Isaiah, Job, the beatitudes, the parables of Jesus, and the world igniting actions of Jesus. He also reflects on the writings of Thomas Merton and other poets and thinkers. The listener that takes the knowledge presented here to heart will be better prepared as a teacher of life and a former of conscience, because the listener will be challenged to cherish his or her own religious experiences in a fresh new manner.