Before Jesus chooses the Twelve, Luke tells us he climbs a mountain alone, where he "went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God." Simon and Jude, whose feast the Church keeps today, are two of the men who were called. Paul's letter today says believers are "fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God," built on a foundation most people never see or notice. That same quiet, unseen faithfulness runs under each story in today's issue.

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. Armed Attacks Kill at Least 60 Christians in Ethiopia

Two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region, on Oct. 20 and Oct. 24, killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians, the country's Orthodox Church said, urging the authorities to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice. Assailants killed 14 people on Oct. 20 in the zone's northern district of Merti, followed by a second attack on Oct. 24 that left 46 dead across several villages in neighboring Shirka district. More than 20 people were seriously wounded and 20 homes were burned down, the church said, describing the killings as "brutal and merciless massacres." A regional government spokesperson blamed the Oromo Liberation Army for the attacks, but presented no evidence supporting the accusations in the statement.

Faith Lens for the Home: Every person killed in Oromia was made in God's image, and the Church has always asked us to carry the suffering of persecuted Christians anywhere as our own family's concern. How much of this belongs at your table tonight is yours to judge, but a short prayer for the families in Oromia fits at any age.

2. Pope Leo Cleared to Travel to Latin America

Pope Leo XIV will proceed with his planned Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, after doctors determined there are no medical reasons preventing him from traveling following his Oct. 13 lung cancer surgery. The Vatican said the procedure went ahead without complications and subsequent tests confirmed that the illness was contained, so he does not need any additional oncological treatment. His doctor added that "there are no contraindications that would prevent him from undertaking his upcoming apostolic journey to Latin America as planned." The pope said "it fills me with joy" to return to a continent, and the trip will be the longest trip of the pontificate so far.

Faith Lens for the Home: Jesus prepared for his biggest decision in prayer, not in strength, and a pope still recovering from surgery is stepping back into his mission the same way. Ask at dinner: who do we know who is sick right now and needs the kind of courage Pope Leo is showing, and pray a decade for his health and safe travel.

3. Clocks Fall Back This Sunday Morning

Daylight saving time officially ends on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, at 2 a.m. local time, when clocks "fall back" one hour to 1 a.m., marking the official nationwide return to standard time. The shift means brighter mornings, but darkness will settle in much earlier in the evening, with late-afternoon daylight fading quickly across the region throughout the winter months. Congress has debated ending the twice-yearly change - the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act on July 14, 2026, but it remains with the Senate Commerce Committee and is not law - so the clocks move as usual this year. For kids, a parenting expert advises: "don't just move bedtime" all at once, but shift meals, naps and wake times gradually in the days before.

Faith Lens for the Home: Today's psalm says "day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge," a reminder that every hour, even the one we get back Sunday, is a gift and not just a schedule to manage. Ask at dinner what unhurried thing the family could do with that extra hour Sunday morning before Mass.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Simon and St. Jude - October 28

Simon and Jude appear in each Gospel's list of the Twelve, and today's own Gospel names "Simon who was called a Zealot" alongside Jude - but Scripture tells us almost nothing more about either man. Jude is often called "Thaddeus" to make it clear he is not the same person as Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, and an old novena to him observes that "the name of the traitor has caused you to be forgotten by many." Out of that forgetting grew one of the most enduring devotions in the Church: devotion to St. Jude was strong in the United States, especially from the 1930s through the 1970s, as the patron people turn to when nothing else seems to be working. Tradition holds that Simon and Jude were martyred together on the same day, possibly in Syria, Lebanon, or Persia, though the true details of their missionary journeys and martyrdom are unclear. Their whole recorded story, in the end, is that they were called, and they went - a kind of sainthood available to any ordinary household, not only famous ones.

Ask at dinner: "If the only thing people remembered about you was that God called you and you said yes, would that be enough?"

✋ One Simple Action

Tonight, pray a decade of the Glorious Mysteries as a family - Wednesday's traditional set - and offer it for the Christians mourning in Ethiopia's Oromia region and for Pope Leo's health and safe travel next month. It takes about five minutes and asks nothing complicated of anyone at the table: just that God hold the people named in tonight's news.

📚 Read More

• Ethiopia attacks: ABC News/AP (https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/attacks-kill-60-orthodox-christians-ethiopia-church-137600132) and Catholic Review/OSV News (https://catholicreview.org/ethiopian-orthodox-leaders-call-for-justice-protection-after-60-christians-killed-in-attacks/)
• Pope Leo's trip: EWTN News (https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/leo-xiv-confirms-his-trip-to-uruguay-argentina-peru) and PBS NewsHour/AP (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/following-post-surgery-checkup-pope-leo-will-proceed-with-latin-america-trip-vatican-confirms)
• Daylight saving time: Yahoo News/AP (https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/daylight-saving-time-ends-2026-170256217.html) and AccuWeather (https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/daylight-saving-time-2026-when-do-clocks-fall-back/1936642)
• Sts. Simon and Jude: National Catholic Register (https://www.ncregister.com/blog/sts-simon-and-jude-saints-and-art) and EWTN (https://ewtnmission.com/seasonsandfeastdays/stssimonandjude/)

Jesus didn't call Simon or Jude or any of the twelve into their roles until after a whole night of prayer - the pause came before any visible action. A family mourning in Oromia, a pope easing back into a demanding mission after surgery, and parents resetting a sleep schedule this weekend are all, in their own small way, living out of that same reliance on God's timing rather than their own. Simon and Jude remind us that being used by God rarely looks dramatic from the outside. Let your household's prayer tonight be just as plain as theirs: present, attentive, and willing to go where it's needed.