God confronts Israel's shepherds through Ezekiel: "Woe to the shepherds who have been pasturing themselves! You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured." Then the Gospel: a landowner pays every worker a full day's wage, whether they labored since dawn or arrived at the last hour - generosity that offends those who think they've earned more. Both readings ask the same question: who is actually being fed, and who is doing the feeding?

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. Baby Gabriel Underwent His First Heart Surgery Monday

The infant surrogate McKenna West refused to abort after his intended parents allegedly invoked a contract clause demanding it was born August 12 in Dallas. A Texas court order secured by Attorney General Ken Paxton guaranteed him medical care - and Monday he underwent the first of three surgeries for a serious congenital heart defect. The intended parents, who dispute West's account and have legal custody, ultimately consented to the surgery and have renamed him Rumi; a restraining order bars West from contact or medical decisions. The full story is still unfolding in court, but for now: the child everyone fought over is alive and recovering.

Faith Lens for the Home: However the custody dispute resolves, a child who was nearly aborted is in surgery fighting for his life. Ask your family: "What does it mean that even people in bitter disagreement can still both want a child to live?" Pray tonight for Gabriel's recovery and for peace between the adults still fighting over him.

2. Ebola in Congo Is Now the Deadliest Outbreak in the Country's History

Africa CDC announced this week that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has surpassed 5,000 cases and killed at least 2,325 people - the deadliest in the DRC's history, and the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded worldwide. There is still no approved treatment for this strain. The World Health Organization says containment remains possible "with the necessary resources" - resources that haven't reached everyone who needs them.

Faith Lens for the Home: The sheep were scattered "because there was no shepherd." Ask your family: "Who is caring for the sick in Congo right now, when the world's attention has moved elsewhere?" Catholic Relief Services is on the ground at crs.org. Pray for the sick, the healthcare workers, and the dying who have no one at their bedside.

3. Florida's Bishops Push Back on the State's Vaccine Exemption Threat

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is threatening to cut voucher funding to Catholic schools unless they grant religious exemptions to vaccine mandates. Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski responded plainly: Catholic teaching does not object to the vaccines in question, so the schools won't claim a religious exemption that isn't real. "Nobody is forced to go to a Catholic school," he said. The bishops say they'll defend their right to set that policy themselves.

Faith Lens for the Home: A shepherd who won't misuse the language of faith to win a political fight is doing the harder, more honest thing. Ask your family: "Why does it matter that the bishop told the truth even when a different answer might have kept the funding?" Pray for Florida's Catholic schools and their students as the year begins.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. John Eudes - August 19

A 17th-century French priest who nursed plague victims, preached missions across France, founded religious congregations, and pioneered devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary decades before it became widespread. He fed the flock he was given - literally, during the plague, and spiritually, for the rest of his life.

Ask at dinner: "John Eudes cared for the sick when almost no one else would go near them. What would it look like for our family to go toward someone others are avoiding?"

✋ One Simple Action

Pray tonight for baby Gabriel, for the sick in Congo, and for Florida's Catholic school students. Then ask honestly: am I feeding the flock, or myself? Bring the answer to God tonight, whatever it is.

📚 Read More

• Baby Gabriel's heart surgery: ABC News (https://abcnews.com/US/baby-center-surrogacy-legal-battle-los-angeles-california/story?id=135748669) and CBS News on the court order (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-court-surrogate-baby-heart-defect-abortion/) and Live Action (https://www.liveaction.org/news/baby-boy-surrogacy-case-first-heart-surgery)
• Ebola outbreak deadliest in DRC history; Catholic Church response: Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/08/15/faith-over-fear-the-churchs-response-to-the-drcs-escalating-ebola-crisis/) and Catholic Relief Services (https://www.crs.org/our-work/current-issues/ebola-outbreak-drc-uganda)
• Florida bishops on vaccine exemptions: Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/08/17/florida-attorney-general-miami-archbishop-spar-over-vaccine-exemptions-in-catholic-schools/) and OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/florida-catholic-bishops-push-back-on-state-ags-threat-to-participation-in-school-voucher-program/) and NCRegister (https://www.ncregister.com/cna/florida-attorney-general-miami-archbishop-spar-over-vaccine-exemptions-in-catholic-schools)
• St. John Eudes: Franciscan Media (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-eudes/)

Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves. A surrogate protected a child she wasn't required to protect. A country's sick are dying without enough hands to hold them. A bishop told the truth instead of the convenient thing.