What Israel’s story makes painfully obvious is that following the Lord is a lifelong lesson in “I believe, but help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).
Faith holds on to the truth of who Jesus is revealed to be, despite our sometimes incongruent experience with God.
This is an excerpt from the first chapter of A Reasoned Defense of the Faith by Adam Francisco (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 1-3.

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In Christ, all things are new. This is also true in so far as His three-fold office of prophet, priest, and king.
The oddness of this moment, at the beginning of Advent, is God’s way of saying, “The reason I’m here...”
The youths that mock Elisha are representative of Israel’s collective contempt and disregard for all things relating to their One True God.
The Israelites had taken the Covenantal promise and the language of separation and interpreted them to mean the message of salvation and restoration was meant for only them. But this is counter to the reality of the Scriptures.
Trust in the midst of trouble. That is what our Lord calls us to experience today.
Without the sacraments, God’s grace is simply an artifact behind a glass-case in a museum. We might be able to describe and even admire it, but we never get firsthand access to it.
This text arguably contains the clearest teaching concerning the bodily resurrection from the dead in the Old Testament.
Everywhere we look, there is suffering. But Jesus is not calling us to look. He is calling us to listen.
Our experience with good fathers – even when they are not our own – can point us to God the Father.
What do Habakkuk and Israel have? Nothing but the word of God. Nothing but the promise of God. Nothing but God himself.
This is an extremely important chapter and it speaks to the motif of DEATH and RESURRECTION in a powerful way.
In his death, Jesus has done the ultimate act of charity. He has given his life for all.