Alleluia! Today Paul gathers the elders of Ephesus for a farewell. He knows he will never see them again. He says: "I did not shrink from telling you anything that was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public and in your homes" (Acts 20:20). Then in the Gospel, Jesus prays for his disciples at the Last Supper: "Holy Father, protect them in your name... so that they may be one, as we are one" (John 17:11). Both of them pointing forward, not backward. The Church still does the same.

📰 Quick Hits

1. This Saturday, 20,000 Young Catholics Begin Walking 60 Miles to Chartres

On Saturday May 23, the Vigil of Pentecost, an expected 20,000 pilgrims will depart Paris on foot for the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres, 60 miles away. They will arrive Monday May 25, Pentecost Monday, for a solemn Mass at the Cathedral, where they will venerate the veil of Our Lady, one of the most ancient Marian relics in the world. This is the 44th annual Paris-Chartres Pentecost Pilgrimage, organized by Notre-Dame de Chrétienté. Last year drew 19,000; this year's registration sold out in five days. The average age of pilgrims is 20 years old. The theme this year: "You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth." Paul said it; These young people are living it on foot, through the French countryside, in the rain and the heat, praying the Rosary.

Faith Lens for the Home: Ask your family tonight: "Why do you think 20,000 young people - half of them under 20 - would choose to walk 60 miles over three days as an act of faith? What are they looking for that they can't find anywhere else?" Then ask: "Is there a pilgrimage - physical or spiritual - our family could make together this year?" The walk to Chartres begins four days from now. The walk to the Sacred Heart begins now.

2. Pope Leo's First Encyclical Releases Monday - Here Is What to Expect

Pope Leo XIV signed his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas - "Magnificent Humanity" - on May 15, the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the foundational document of Catholic social teaching. The Vatican has confirmed the document will be released publicly on Monday, May 25. The encyclical is expected to address artificial intelligence, the dignity of work, and the fragility of international order - framing AI as the defining social question of our era the way industrialization was in 1891. Leo has said clearly: technology must serve the human person, not the reverse. "Exclusion is the new face of social injustice." He chose the name Leo XIV precisely to invoke Leo XIII - and this document is why. Domus Daily will cover it fully next week. For now: mark Monday May 25 on your calendar and plan to read it - or at least the summary - before the week is out.

Faith Lens for the Home: Ask your family this week: "If a pope is comparing AI to the industrial revolution - what do you think he means? What did the industrial revolution do to workers and families, and what might AI do?" You do not need the document to have that conversation. You need a dinner table and a family willing to ask it.

3. Trump Halted Iran Strikes After Gulf Leaders Asked for More Time

President Trump announced Sunday that he postponed a planned U.S. military strike against Iran after Gulf state leaders - including Saudi Arabia and the UAE - personally urged him to give diplomacy more time. He directed the military to stand down while remaining prepared for a "full, large scale assault" on short notice if negotiations fail. Talks between U.S. and Iranian representatives are continuing. The Church has consistently called for the exhaustion of every diplomatic path before military action, and for the protection of civilian life above all other considerations in any conflict.

Faith Lens for the Home: The Church does not tell governments exactly how to negotiate. It does insist that every human life - Iranian, Israeli, American, Yemeni - is made in the image of God and cannot be treated as a means to a political end. Ask your family: "What does the Church teach about when war is justified - and what has to happen first?" Then pray for the negotiators on all sides and for the civilians who bear the cost of every decision made above them.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Dunstan of Canterbury - May 19

A 10th-century English monk, artist, musician, metalworker, and Archbishop of Canterbury who reformed English monasteries and the English Church after decades of Viking devastation. He was exiled twice for his principles, returned both times, and kept working. He is patron of goldsmiths, silversmiths, and blacksmiths - a man who worked with his hands and prayed with the same hands. He died at 84, still serving.

Ask at dinner: "St. Dunstan worked with his hands his whole life - as a craftsman and as an archbishop. What work does our family do with our hands, and how do we offer it to God?"

✋ One Simple Action

This week before Pentecost Sunday: pray Come Holy Spirit once a day as a family. Sixty seconds. Ask the Spirit to come into your home the way he came upon the disciples in the upper room. And if you have a young person in your life - a college student, a teenager, a young adult - tell them about the Chartres pilgrimage. Not to pressure them, but because they should know it exists. Twenty thousand young people walking to Our Lady this weekend is news worth passing on.

📚 Read More

• 2026 Paris-Chartres Pentecost Pilgrimage - May 23-25: Notre-Dame de Chrétienté (https://www.nd-chretiente.com) and Chartres Pilgrimage USA (https://chartrespilgrimageusa.com)
• Pope Leo's first encyclical - Magnifica Humanitas - releases May 26: Deacon's Bench (https://thedeaconsbench.com/its-official-vatican-announces-first-encyclical-by-pope-leo-to-be-published-next-week/) and EWTN (https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/vatican-to-publish-pope-leo-xiv-s-first-encyclical-may-25)
• Trump halts Iran strikes after Gulf leaders' request: Zeale / The LOOP (https://zeale.co/news/articles/trump-holds-off-new-strikes-against-iran-acceding-to-requests-from-gulf-states)
• St. Dunstan of Canterbury: Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2026-05-19)

Paul taught them in public and in their homes and did not shrink from anything. Jesus prayed they would be one. Twenty thousand young people are walking to Chartres to say yes to both. The Spirit is moving. Do not be afraid to move with it.