Alleluia! Today Paul is stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead. The disciples gather around him. He gets up. He walks back into the city. The next day he leaves for the next town. The summary: "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Then the Gospel: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid" (John 14:27). Not peace without suffering. Peace inside it.

📰 Quick Hits

1. Hezbollah Targets Lebanon's Most Senior Catholic Cardinal - He Isn't Moving

Hezbollah supporters flooded social media this week with degrading images of Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Lebanon's Maronite patriarch and most senior Catholic cleric, while simultaneously breaking into and vandalizing a historic Maronite monastery in northern Lebanon. Cardinal Raï has spent years insisting Lebanon must remain neutral - that its Christians are the "message" of coexistence the country sends to the world. He has refused to leave or be silenced. He is still there.

Faith Lens for the Home: Paul got up after being stoned and walked back into the city. Ask your family: "What does it look like to hold your ground for your faith when pressure comes - not with anger, but with peace?"

2. A Crucifix Was Destroyed in Lebanon. Then Someone Replaced It.

During military operations in southern Lebanon, Israeli forces destroyed a crucifix in a local village. Italian UNIFIL peacekeepers quietly replaced it. That is the whole story - and it is enough. The cross destroyed. The cross restored. Easter in two sentences.

Faith Lens for the Home: Is there a crucifix in every room of your home? If not - especially in your children's rooms - this week is a good time to change that. A cross on the wall is a quiet, daily witness to what your household believes.

3. Australian Bishops: Young Men Need Dignified Work, Not Just Degrees

Australia's bishops released a statement this week praising apprenticeships and trades, expressing concern about youth unemployment, and urging support for vocational pathways for young people who are leaving school without a clear path to meaningful work. They called dignified labor a right, not a fallback.

Faith Lens for the Home: St. Joseph was a tradesman, not a degree-holder. Ask your family: "Do we treat skilled trades as honorable vocations? What does our faith say about the dignity of working with your hands?"

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

No feast today - just Paul, bloodied and stoned, getting up and going back to work. That is its own kind of sainthood. The willingness to rise and continue is the pattern of the Resurrection, repeated in every ordinary life.

Ask at dinner: "What is something hard our family has faced that we got up from? What helped us keep going?"

✋ One Simple Action

Pray for Cardinal Raï and the Christians of Lebanon tonight - by name, specifically. "Lord, give them your peace - not as the world gives." Then pray for one young person in your life who is searching for meaningful work. The Church sees both needs as sacred.

📚 Read More

• Hezbollah targets Cardinal Raï: The LOOP / Zeale (https://zeale.co/news/articles/hezbollah-supporters-target-maronite-catholic-cardinal-in-obscene-social-media-campaign) and CNA (https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/maronite-cardinal-rai-hezbollah-lebanon)
• Crucifix destroyed and replaced in Lebanon: Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=64821)
• Australian bishops on youth employment: Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=64819)

He got up and went back into the city. That is the whole of Christian witness in one sentence. Go and do likewise today.