Jerusalem falls, the Temple is burned, the walls are torn down. The people are led to Babylon in chains. Only the poorest are left - the vinedressers and farmers, the ones no one thought worth taking. By the rivers of Babylon, the exiles sit down and weep. Then the Gospel: a leper approaches Jesus, kneels, and prays: "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean" (Matthew 8:2). He does not say please. He does not bargain. He simply names what he knows: You can. Whether you will - that is between you and me. Jesus stretches out his hand and touches him. "I will. Be made clean." The Temple is in rubble. And the untouchable is touched. That is always the answer.

📰 Quick Hits

1. Twin Earthquakes Kill 188 in Venezuela - The Church Is Already There

Wednesday evening, two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela less than a minute apart - a 7.2-magnitude quake near Caracas, then 39 seconds later a 7.5-magnitude tremor 10 miles from the first. At least 188 people were killed, with hundreds more injured and thousands displaced. They are among the strongest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in over a century. The Vatican offered immediate prayers and solidarity. The US and other countries have offered aid. Catholic Relief Services is coordinating response. Venezuela's Catholic Church - which has been a steady presence through years of political crisis, economic collapse, and now natural disaster - is already stretched out into the rubble.

Faith Lens for the Home: The leper did not know if Jesus would come near him. He only knew he could. Pray tonight for the families in Venezuela who are sitting in the rubble of what was their home. Then consider a concrete act: Catholic Relief Services is at crs.org/venezuela. The Church stretches out its hand. Your family can be part of that reach.

2. Supreme Court Ends Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians

The Supreme Court ruled this week that the Trump administration may end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian nationals living in the United States - some of whom have been here for over a decade, built families, started businesses, and put down roots. The Court also upheld the authority to turn back some asylum seekers before they physically reach US soil. The USCCB has consistently held that migrants and asylum seekers possess inherent dignity regardless of their legal status, and that families should not be separated by deportation policies. The Church does not oppose border enforcement - it insists that every person at the border is made in the image of God.

Faith Lens for the Home: The leper was declared unclean by the law. The law was not wrong about his disease. Jesus touched him anyway - and then told him to follow the law and show himself to the priest. The Church holds both: the law matters, and every person matters more than the enforcement of it. Ask your family: "What does the Church teach about how we treat people who arrive at our borders? What is the difference between enforcing a law and doing justice?" Let the answers sit.

3. Five Years

Today, June 26, 2021, I was ordained a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Five years ago this morning I knelt before Bishop Thomas Paprocki and promised respect and obedience. Five years of homilies and hospital visits, of baptisms and burials, of serving at the altar while coming home to Suzanne and our sons. Five years of trying to be the kind of deacon the Church ordains - not a lesser priest but a specific vocation: the ordained servant, the one sent to the margins, the one who keeps one foot in the sanctuary and one foot in the street. The leper came to Jesus. Jesus stretched out his hand. The deacon's job is to be that hand in the places the institution doesn't naturally go. Five years in. Still learning. Still grateful.

Faith Lens for the Home: Every baptized person is called to that same reach - to stretch out a hand toward the person no one else is touching. Ask your family tonight: "Who is the leper in our neighborhood, our school, our parish? Who is the person we tend to walk around rather than toward?" Then ask: "What would it look like to touch them?"

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer - June 26

A Spanish priest born in 1902 who founded Opus Dei on October 2, 1928, after receiving a vision of God's call in Madrid. His central insight: ordinary work - washing dishes, writing code, teaching children, building houses - is a path to holiness when done in the presence of God. He called it "sanctifying ordinary life." He did not ask people to leave the world to find God. He insisted that God is already in the world, waiting to be found in the most mundane tasks. He died in 1975 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002 before 300,000 people in Rome. His most famous line: "Don't say, 'That person bothers me.' Think, 'That person sanctifies me.'"

Ask at dinner: "St. Josemaría said ordinary work is a path to holiness. What ordinary thing does our family do every day that we could offer to God more intentionally? What would change if we did?"

✋ One Simple Action

Pray for Venezuela tonight - specifically, for the families who lost someone in the earthquakes. Consider a donation to CRS at crs.org/venezuela. And this weekend, find the person in your community who is the equivalent of the leper - the person whose situation makes others uncomfortable - and do one thing toward them rather than around them. The hand stretched out is the whole Gospel in one gesture.

Enjoy the weekend living the faith in your domestic church. See you Monday.

📚 Read More

• Venezuela twin earthquakes: The Pour Over (https://www.web.thepourover.org/p/back-to-back-tremors) and Catholic Relief Services (https://www.crs.org/get-involved/news-and-views/crs-responds-venezuela-earthquakes-june-2026)
• Supreme Court TPS ruling for Haitians and Syrians: Zeale / The LOOP (https://zeale.co/news/articles/supreme-court-hands-trump-administration-2-immigration-wins) and USCCB on migration (https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/immigration)
• St. Josemaría Escrivá: Opus Dei (https://www.opusdei.org/en/article/saint-josemaria-escriva/) and Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2026-06-26)

Jerusalem burned. The people wept by the rivers of Babylon. And Jesus came down the mountain and touched the one man no one was allowed to touch. "I will. Be made clean." Five years of trying to be that hand. The Temple falls and the leper is healed and the Church is in the rubble in Venezuela this morning. That person sanctifies me. Go and do likewise.