Peter had just watched a rich young man walk away from Jesus - sad, because his possessions were too much to give up. Peter turns to Jesus and says what all of us want to say at some point: "We have given up everything and followed you. What are we getting?" Jesus answers directly: "There is no one who has given up house or family or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age - and eternal life in the age to come" (Mark 10:28-30). The cost is real. So is the return. Philip Neri gave up everything for Rome and Rome gave him back a hundredfold. He is the proof.

📰 Quick Hits

1. What the Church Is Actually Saying About Magnifica Humanitas

Yesterday Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical. By this morning, Catholic voices across the spectrum have responded. The Pillar calls it "the most significant social encyclical since Laudato Si' - and arguably more practically useful." NCRegister notes that Leo dedicates an entire chapter to the family and the domestic church specifically - arguing that the home is the first place where children learn whether technology serves them or masters them. Catholic World Report highlights the document's condemnation of lethal autonomous weapons - drones and AI systems programmed to kill without human authorization - as one of its most urgent sections. And nearly every response quotes the same line: "The question is not whether AI is powerful. The question is whether it will be placed in the service of the person or against them." Read it this week at vatican.va. Your family is in it.

Faith Lens for the Home: Peter asked what he would get for giving everything. The encyclical answers the question in the other direction: what do we lose if we give ourselves to a technology that simulates love but cannot practice it? Ask your family: "What has following Christ cost our family - and what have we received in return that we didn't expect?"

2. Young Men Storm Congo Hospital Treating Ebola Patients

Overnight, young men broke into a hospital in eastern Congo treating Ebola patients to demand the bodies of their relatives. The Ebola outbreak we reported on May 18 has now spread beyond DRC into Uganda, with authorities racing to contain it across 10 countries. The hospital storming reflects a collapse of trust between communities and health institutions - the same distrust that slows every humanitarian response in that region. The Church has worked in northeastern Congo for generations and remains among the most trusted institutions there. Catholic Relief Services has staff on the ground.

Faith Lens for the Home: Pray for Congo tonight by name - for the sick, the healthcare workers, the families who cannot hold their dying. Then consider a concrete act: Catholic Relief Services Congo is at crs.org. "We have given up everything and followed you" - some people are living that sentence in an Ebola ward in Ituri Province right now.

3. The National Consecration Is 16 Days Away - Here Is How to Prepare

On June 11, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at their Plenary Assembly in Orlando - 16 days from now. The USCCB is inviting all parishes and families to join by contributing to 250 Hours of Adoration and 250 Works of Mercy before June 11. A nine-day novena to the Sacred Heart begins June 3, drawing on both Pope Francis's encyclical Dilexit Nos and Pope Leo XIV's apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te. Everything you need - resources, the novena, the history of the devotion, the consecration prayer, and Archbishop Sample's video reflection - is at usccb.org/consecration-united-states-sacred-heart-jesus. Start there tonight.

Faith Lens for the Home: Philip Neri spent his whole life in Rome - caring for pilgrims, hearing confessions, founding the Oratory, filling the city with joy - and he never stopped saying the most important thing was love of God. The consecration on June 11 is an invitation to say it nationally. What would it mean for your household to say it specifically, on that day, in your own home? Mark the date. Begin the novena June 3.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Philip Neri - May 26

Born in Florence in 1515, Philip Neri moved to Rome at 18 and spent the next six decades there - working with the poor and sick, gathering young men off the streets, hearing confessions for hours at a time, and founding the Congregation of the Oratory. He was called "Pippo Buono" - Good Little Phil - from childhood. He kept joke books alongside his Bible and believed laughter was a gift from God. He was known to tell penitents their sins before they confessed them. Pope Gregory XIV called him the Apostle of Rome. He is patron of joy, laughter, and comedians. He died on May 26, 1595, having told his friends that morning: "Last night I saw Our Lady." Then he went to bed and died peacefully in his sleep at 79.

Ask at dinner: "St. Philip believed that joy is one of the most powerful arguments for the Gospel. Is our family joyful in our faith - or is it more of a duty? What would more joy look like in our home?"

✋ One Simple Action

Go to usccb.org/consecration-united-states-sacred-heart-jesus tonight. Read the brief history of the devotion. Watch Archbishop Sample's video. Then choose one preparation practice for your family before June 11 - a Holy Hour, a work of mercy, the novena beginning June 3. The Sacred Heart novena was made for exactly this: sixteen days of preparation, one act of consecration, a family that said yes.

📚 Read More

• Magnifica Humanitas - Catholic reactions: The Pillar (https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/magnifica-humanitas-reactions-roundup) and NCRegister (https://www.ncregister.com/news/magnifica-humanitas-domestic-church-chapter)
• Ebola outbreak spreading to Uganda - 10 countries at risk: NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/05/24/nx-s1-5822419/ebola-outbreak-drc-uganda-spreading) and Catholic Relief Services Congo (https://www.crs.org/our-work-overseas/where-we-work/africa/democratic-republic-congo)
• Sacred Heart Consecration preparation - USCCB: USCCB (https://www.usccb.org/consecration-united-states-sacred-heart-jesus)
• 5 ways for families to prepare: Aleteia (https://aleteia.org/2026/05/23/5-ways-to-make-sacred-heart-consecration-change-your-family/)
• St. Philip Neri: Franciscan Media (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-philip-neri/)

Peter asked what he would get for giving everything. Jesus told him: a hundredfold, now, in this present age. Philip Neri gave Rome everything for 60 years and the city gave him back its heart. The consecration is 16 days away. Give your household to the Sacred Heart. See what you receive.