Today's first reading from Ephesians warns against the sins that choke out love - impurity, greed, anything that treats another person as a means to an end - and calls believers instead to kindness and compassion toward one another. In the Gospel, Jesus is teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath when he sees a woman who for eighteen years has been bent over, unable to stand up straight, and he heals her on the spot, saying simply, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." The synagogue leader is indignant, not at her suffering but at the timing of her cure, insisting there are six other days when work could be done. Jesus answers that mercy does not wait for a more convenient day. Three stories from this weekend ask variations of the same question: who gets noticed, and when.

The deeper reflection on today's readings - and a daily prayer for your household - is waiting in the & Altar app and at andaltar.com. More after the news.

📰 Quick Hits

1. Gunmen Kill Nine in Jordan Church Attack

Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan on Friday in the village of Hamoud, in the Karak governorate. By Saturday, the death toll initially stood at seven before rising to nine on Saturday as two injured victims died. Authorities have described the violence as a terrorist attack, and all three assailants remained at large following the attack. Jordan's King Abdullah II vowed the "harshest retaliation" against the attackers, and the Jordanian government declared three days of national mourning, with flags flown at half-mast across the country. Thousands of mourners gathered for the funerals of eight of the victims, with Prime Minister Jafar Hassan also in attendance.

Faith Lens for the Home: Karak is home to a minority Christian population, and its people buried their dead this weekend in public rather than in silence. How much of this belongs at your table tonight is yours to judge, but every family can do this much: pray tonight for the dead of Hamoud and for the Christians who still gather each week to worship.

2. New York Archdiocese Reaches $800 Million Settlement

About 1,300 survivors of clergy sexual abuse have unanimously agreed to an $800 million settlement with the Archdiocese of New York, marking one of the largest payouts by a Catholic diocese in the United States. The only larger settlement over sexual abuse claims in the US was by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which agreed in 2024 to pay $880 million to 1,000 abuse victims. Archbishop Ronald Hicks sent an email Saturday to clergy confirming the settlement, saying it will not be final until the parties sign it, an action scheduled for the week of November 6. The agreement follows claims filed under New York's Child Victims Act, which opened a window to revive past claims of any age. Attorney Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing people who filed more than 1,000 of claims against the Catholic Church in New York state, called it "a powerful moment in the pursuit of justice."

Faith Lens for the Home: In today's Gospel, a woman carries an affliction for eighteen years before anyone thinks to heal her; many of these survivors carried theirs for decades before anyone with authority in the Church was willing to see it. Archbishop Hicks wrote that the settlement puts the archdiocese "on the verge of being able to, please God, bring some measure of healing and reconciliation to all victim-survivors." Pray tonight for every survivor still waiting to be believed, and ask God to keep your own parish watchful over its children.

3. Florida Proposes New Teen Social Media Limits

The Florida attorney general on Thursday proposed legislation aimed at protecting children on social media that would require age verification and parental consent for apps. The bill would cap social media use for teens 14 to 17 at two hours a day and 60 hours a month, and would block access overnight and during school hours during the academic year. Like counts would be hidden, autoplay and infinite scroll would be off unless a parent turns them on, and cosmetic filters would be disabled. The proposal would also bar AI chatbots from simulating companionship with minors, generating sexual content, or encouraging self-harm. It follows an October 14 ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing Florida to enforce its existing restrictions on social media accounts for children under 14, and it would still need to be introduced by a state legislator before it could proceed.

Faith Lens for the Home: Today's reading from Ephesians calls believers to live as children of light, awake rather than numbed by what surrounds them. Ask at dinner tonight what hours phones go dark in your house, and consider setting the same quiet hours this bill proposes, whether or not it ever becomes law.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Evaristus - October 26

There is no Mass feast for him on today's calendar, but the Roman Martyrology remembers Pope St. Evaristus on October 26. Tradition holds that he was an early bishop of Rome in the first years of the second century, and the Liber Pontificalis says he came of a Hellenic family, and was the son of a Bethlehem Jew. The same source credits him with dividing Rome's Christians into the city's first parishes, though the Liber Pontificalis arbitrarily refers to the time of Evaristus a later institution of the Roman Church, so historians doubt the details. Tradition also holds the martyrdom of Evaristus, though traditional, is not historically proven, and he was laid to rest near the tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican. Whether or not every detail survives scrutiny, the instinct behind the story is a father's instinct: look at a growing household and make sure every person in it has someone assigned to notice them.

Ask at dinner: "Who in our family or parish might need someone checking on them this week?"

✋ One Simple Action

Think of one person - a relative, a neighbor, someone from the parish - who has been carrying something heavy long enough that everyone around them has simply gotten used to it. Call or text them tonight, not to fix anything, just to let them know you see them. Then pray a decade of the Joyful Mysteries as a family, offering it for them, for the Christians of Jordan, for the survivors in New York, and for every child one unlocked phone away from a stranger.

📚 Read More

• Jordan church attack: PBS NewsHour / AP (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/gunmen-open-fire-at-a-church-during-a-funeral-in-jordan-killing-7-and-wounding-34) and ABC News, toll rises to nine (https://abcnews.com/International/death-toll-rises-9-after-gunmen-open-fire/story?id=137538843) and Al Jazeera, funerals held Sunday (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/25/thousands-mourn-victims-of-deadly-jordan-church-attack)
• New York settlement: PBS NewsHour / AP (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/new-yorks-archdiocese-and-survivors-of-clergy-abuse-agree-to-800-million-legal-settlement) and NPR, survivor and attorney reaction (https://www.npr.org/2026/10/24/nx-s1-6015522/new-york-archdiocese-settlement-agreement)
• Teen social media rules: Florida Attorney General's office, full proposal (https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-proposes-safe-screens-act-protect-minors-app-stores) and WOKV, parent and advocate reaction (https://www.wokv.com/news/local/safe-screens-act-florida-proposal-would-cap-teen-social-media-use-restrict-certain-app-features/HLISYCLNWVFSJODSJGXKAEDALQ/)
• St. Evaristus: New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia (https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05646a.htm) and Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=633)

Jesus did not wait for a more convenient day to heal the woman in today's Gospel, and this week's news is full of people who needed someone to do the same: the Christians buried in Karak, the survivors in New York finally being heard after decades, and the children whose parents are only now being asked to set the rules for a phone. None of these fit neatly into six days or any other tidy schedule. Paul tells the Ephesians today that kindness and compassion come before any rule, not after it. Look for the person in front of you who needs a decision made now, not on a more convenient day, and make it.