Jeremiah carries God's most tender summons: "Return, rebellious children, says the Lord, for I am your Master. I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently." Then the Gospel explains the parable of the sower: rocky ground, thorns, rich soil. "The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold" (Matthew 13:23). God calls his scattered children home and promises wise shepherds. The question is always: what is the condition of the soil?

📰 Quick Hits

1. Bill Introduced to Block Forced Abortions in Surrogacy Contracts

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced legislation Thursday that would bar federal courts from enforcing surrogacy contract provisions requiring a surrogate mother to abort the child she is carrying. The bill - the Preventing Forced Abortions Act - addresses a practice that most people don't know exists: contracts in which intended parents require the surrogate to terminate a pregnancy if the child is found to have a disability, if there are too many embryos, or if the parents simply change their minds. CatholicVote called it a measure that would protect vulnerable women and unborn children from being treated "as a means to an end." The Church opposes commercial surrogacy in principle - Donum Vitae and Dignitas Personae both address it - but this bill addresses its most extreme violation: the use of a woman's body as a tool that can be ordered to destroy the life it carries.

Faith Lens for the Home: Ask your family: "What does it mean that a surrogacy contract can include a requirement to have an abortion? What does the Church teach about why this is wrong - not just the abortion provision, but the arrangement itself?" The rocky ground in the parable receives the word with joy and then loses it when trouble comes. A woman who signed a contract and then faces pressure to end a pregnancy she wants to keep is in exactly that trouble. Pray for her. Pray for legislators with the clarity to name what is happening.

2. France Bans Social Media for Under-15s - First in Europe

The French Parliament voted 243-2 in the Senate Tuesday to pass legislation banning children under 15 from social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat. France becomes the first EU nation to enact a blanket social-network age floor - following Australia, which imposed a minimum age of 16 in December 2025. New accounts are banned starting September 1. By January 2027, all existing under-15 accounts must be deactivated. Platforms face fines of up to 6% of global turnover for non-compliance. A coalition of roughly 15 European countries is expected to follow, with Greece and Spain moving first. France's minister delegate for digital sovereignty said: "The brains and emotions of children and teenagers are not for sale or to be manipulated by American platforms or Chinese algorithms."

Faith Lens for the Home: Australia. Canada considering it. France. A coalition of 15 European nations. The world is waking up to what the Church said and what Magnifica Humanitas said. Ask your family: "What is our household's rule about social media and age? Are we ahead of the French government or behind it?" The rich soil receives the word and bears fruit. The thorns choke it out - and the research is increasingly clear about which one social media is for children under 15.

3. Catholic Teens at Vocation Camp: "I'm Not the Only One"

The Diocese of Scranton gathered 53 high school students this summer for its annual Quo Vadis and Fiat Days vocation discernment camps - three days of daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, prayer, and conversation with priests, seminarians, and religious sisters. One attendee described the experience: "When you surround yourself with people who are just like you and are also sinners but at the same time trying to get closer to God, you realize - I'm not the only one." That sentence is the parable of the sower lived out: seed that found rich soil, took root, and is now beginning to bear fruit. Tomorrow is the Feast of St. James, called from a fishing boat. These teenagers are being called too.

Faith Lens for the Home: Fifty-three teenagers chose to spend three days in prayer, Mass, and discernment in the summer of 2026. Ask your family: "Does our household create conditions where our kids could discover 'I'm not the only one' - that there are other young people trying to follow God? What would it take to find that community for them?" The seed is good. The sower is faithful. The soil is the question.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Charbel Makhlouf - July 24

A Lebanese Maronite priest born in 1828 in the mountains north of Byblos, who entered the Annaya monastery and later received permission to live as a hermit in a small chapel on the monastery grounds. He spent the last 23 years of his life there in almost complete silence - fasting, praying, and celebrating Mass daily. He died on Christmas Eve 1898 during the Mass. His body was found incorrupt. Miracles began immediately - a light was seen coming from his tomb for 45 nights after his death. He is one of the most beloved saints in the Middle East, invoked for healing, family peace, and protection. His most famous line: "Begin nothing on earth unless it has its end in heaven."

Ask at dinner: "St. Charbel spent 23 years in silence because he believed prayer was the most important work. What would our family need to believe - about God and about prayer - to give it that kind of weight?"

✋ One Simple Action

Put the phones away an hour before bed tonight - the whole household. Use that hour for one conversation, one prayer, one moment of quiet. "Begin nothing on earth unless it has its end in heaven." France just made that a law for under-15s. Your family can choose it for everyone.

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

📚 Read More

• Preventing Forced Abortions Act introduced: Breitbart (https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/21/exclusive-rep-andy-ogles-introduce-bill-that-would-ban-forced-abortions-surrogacy-arrangements/) and Concerned Women for America (https://concernedwomen.org/forced-abortions-in-surrogacy-contracts/) and Rep. Ogles press release (https://ogles.house.gov/media/press-releases/ogles-introduces-bill-stop-forced-abortions)
• France bans social media for under-15s: NCRegister (https://www.ncregister.com/cna/france-bans-social-media-for-minors-under-15-to2rzega) and Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/07/22/france-becomes-first-european-country-to-ban-social-media-for-minors-under-15/) and EWTN Great Britain (https://ewtn.co.uk/article-france-becomes-first-european-country-to-ban-social-media-for-minors-under-15/)
• Scranton vocation camps - "I'm not the only one": Diocese of Scranton (https://www.dioceseofscranton.org/young-catholics-discover-they-are-not-alone-during-quo-vadis-fiat-days/) and Rite of Candidacy celebrated at the camp (https://www.dioceseofscranton.org/rite-of-candidacy-marks-milestone-in-seminarians-journey-to-priesthood/)
• St. Charbel Makhlouf: Franciscan Media (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-charbel-makhlouf/) and Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2026-07-24)

Return, rebellious children. I will give you shepherds after my own heart. A woman carrying a child she loves is being told her contract requires her to end it. France just said the brains of children are not for sale. Fifty-three teenagers discovered they are not alone. The seed is good. The sower is faithful. Come home to rich soil.