Jeremiah weeps: "We wait for peace, to no avail; for a time of healing, but terror comes instead. We recognize, O Lord, our wickedness." No pretense, no bargaining - just grief and confession laid at God's feet. Then the Gospel: Jesus explains that the good and the wicked grow together until the harvest, when "the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43). Today's news holds both.

The deeper reflection on today's readings - and a daily prayer for your household - is waiting in the & Altar app and at andaltar.com. More after the news.

📰 Quick Hits

1. Father Jacques Hamel: Ten Years Since He Was Murdered at the Altar

This past weekend, France marked the tenth anniversary of the murder of Father Jacques Hamel, the 85-year-old priest who was killed by two jihadist terrorists while celebrating Mass in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, on July 26, 2016. When the attackers forced him to his knees, he refused to stay down. They stabbed him and slit his throat. His last words were "Begone, Satan." On Saturday, his 86-year-old sister Roseline walked the short path from the rectory to his church again - the same path he had walked that morning - surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She has chosen forgiveness every day for ten years. "Being surrounded like this on this anniversary is a great comfort to me," she told OSV News. "It gives me great strength." Cardinal Aveline celebrated a televised Mass at the site. Macron wrote: "We have not forgotten." Father Hamel's cause for beatification is proceeding in Rome.

Faith Lens for the Home: Father Hamel was murdered at the altar. His sister walks back to that church every year and chooses to forgive the men who killed her brother. Ask your family: "What does Roseline's forgiveness actually accomplish - in her, in the community, in the world? What would staying in bitterness accomplish instead?" Pray for the repose of Father Hamel's soul, for Roseline, and for the parish of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, which has had to live with that morning for a decade.

2. Florida Set to Execute Two Men Today - Bishops Still Asking DeSantis to Stop

At noon today, the state of Florida is scheduled to execute James Duckett for the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. At 6 PM, Dominick Occhicone Jr. is scheduled to die for the 1986 murder of Martha Artzner. If both proceed, it will be Florida's first double execution since 1964. The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote to Governor DeSantis on July 21 urging stays and commutation to life without parole. Executive Director Michael Sheedy wrote: "The crimes of which these men were convicted are gravely evil... To punish with lifelong imprisonment is not to minimize the heinousness of these men's crimes. It is rather to recognize with awe that God is the author of life." As of this morning, DeSantis has not granted a stay. There is still time before noon.

Faith Lens for the Home: The Church is clear that the crimes were gravely evil - it says so directly in the letter. What it also says is that a society capable of confining dangerous people without executing them has no moral justification to take their lives. Ask your family: "What does it mean for a Catholic governor to receive a letter like this from his bishops? What do we owe to people who have done terrible things?" Pray this morning for the families of Teresa McAbee and Martha Artzner. Pray for the souls of both men. Pray for Governor DeSantis.

3. The Catholic Church Had a Record Year for Adult Conversions - and It's Not Slowing Down

Data from more than 140 U.S. dioceses found that the average American diocese saw a 38% increase in people entering the Church through OCIA in 2026 compared to 2025. The four largest dioceses all showed strong growth: Los Angeles up 139%, Chicago up 52%, New York up 36%, Phoenix up 23%. Researchers writing in Catholic World Report estimate that when all the numbers are in, 2026 may have seen around 160,000 adults received into the Church - more than in any year since 2005. The growth is broad-based, spanning regions and diocese sizes, and includes a notable surge among the previously unbaptized. The same data showed sharp increases in France, Australia, and Canada as well. Whatever is happening, it is happening across the Church simultaneously.

Faith Lens for the Home: Jeremiah waited for peace, to no avail. He was also one of the prophets whose words kept the faith alive through exile until the restoration came. Ask your family: "Who is someone in our lives who might be asking questions about the faith right now - not dramatically, just quietly? What would it look like for our household to be a welcoming place for that person?" The righteous will shine like the sun. In 160,000 baptisteries this year, they already did.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

Sts. Nazarius and Celsus - July 28

Nazarius was baptized by Pope Linus - one of the first successors of Peter - and carried the faith to Gaul and then to Milan, where he baptized a boy named Celsus and took him along in mission. Both were arrested and beheaded under Nero, their bodies buried in a garden outside the city. For more than three centuries, they lay forgotten. Then in 395, St. Ambrose received a revelation, went to the garden, and found them. The body of Nazarius, witnesses said, looked as though it had just been killed - fresh blood, intact - after 300 years in the ground. Their relics were translated with great ceremony to the Basilica of the Apostles in Milan, where they remain. They are a lesson in how long God is willing to wait before bringing things to light.

Ask at dinner: "Nazarius and Celsus were forgotten for three centuries before God revealed them. Is there something our family has trusted to God and not yet seen answered? What does their story say about God's timing?"

✋ One Simple Action

Pray this morning for Governor DeSantis - there is still time before noon. Pray for the families of Teresa McAbee and Martha Artzner, and for the souls of James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone Jr. Pray for Roseline Hamel. Then tonight, ask God to show you someone in your life who is quietly looking for what 160,000 people found this year. Open the & Altar app or visit andaltar.com for today's deeper reflection.

📚 Read More

• Father Jacques Hamel - ten years, Roseline's witness: OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/a-decade-after-father-jacques-hamels-murder-his-sister-gives-powerful-witness-to-forgiveness/) and Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/07/27/macron-commemorates-french-priest-killed-by-islamic-extremists-10-years-ago/) and Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=70194)
• Florida bishops urge DeSantis to stay both executions: Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (https://flaccb.org/news/catholic-bishops-urge-governor-desantis-to-stay-the-executions-of-james-duckett-and-dominich-occhico) and OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/florida-catholic-bishops-urge-desantis-to-stay-two-executions-set-for-july-28/) and Catholic Review (https://catholicreview.org/florida-catholic-bishops-urge-desantis-to-stay-two-executions-set-for-july-28/)
• Record Catholic conversions in 2026: Aleteia (https://aleteia.org/2026/04/03/2026-convert-boom-where-around-the-world-and-why/) and Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/04/30/is-the-church-dying-or-reviving/)
• Sts. Nazarius and Celsus: Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2026-07-28) and New Advent (https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10728a.htm)

Jeremiah wept and confessed and kept going. Father Hamel's sister walks back to the church every year. Two men will face justice in Florida today. And somewhere in the United States this year, the 160,000th person stepped out of the baptismal font. The righteous will shine like the sun. They already are.