John sees the new Jerusalem descending from heaven, its wall resting on twelve foundation stones - the names of the Twelve Apostles, ordinary men holding up something eternal. Then the Gospel gives us how one of them got there: Philip finds Nathanael and says, "We have found him - Jesus of Nazareth." Nathanael scoffs, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" But Jesus, seeing him approach, says: "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no duplicity." A doubter becomes a foundation stone the moment he stops pretending and comes to see for himself.

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 Survived His First Heart Surgery - Custody Fight Continues Ahead of Thursday's Hearing

Baby Gabriel - the child whose surrogate, McKenna West, refused his intended parents' demand that she abort him after a heart defect diagnosis - underwent his first major surgery successfully last Monday and is recovering. His intended parents, who now have custody and refer to him as Rumi, are suing West for over $100,000 for breach of contract. West is fighting for parental rights of her own under Texas law. A custody hearing is set for this Thursday, August 27.

Faith Lens for the Home: Everyone in this story claims to want what's best for Gabriel - and they deeply disagree about what that looks like. Ask your family: "How do we pray for people in a conflict when we can't fully untangle who's right?" Pray for Gabriel's next surgeries and for a resolution that protects him above all.

2. Anti-Catholic Hate Crimes Rose Again in 2025, Even as Overall Hate Crime Fell

New FBI data released last week shows overall hate crime dropped nearly 9% in 2025 - but anti-Catholic incidents climbed from 63 the year before to roughly 73-84, depending on the metric used. Anti-Protestant and anti-Orthodox incidents rose too, even as most other religious categories declined.

Faith Lens for the Home: It's a small slice of a large number, but it's moving the wrong direction while almost everything else moves the right one. Ask your family: "Have any of us ever felt uneasy about being visibly Catholic in public?" Pray for the victims and for the grace to stay visible anyway.

3. A Diocese in Bankruptcy Is Taking Parishioners' Own Building Funds to Pay Abuse Settlements

Since the Diocese of Fresno filed for bankruptcy last year over more than 150 clergy abuse claims, parishioners have learned that money they personally raised for new churches - not diocesan funds, their own capital campaigns - is being pulled into the settlement because it was held in a shared diocesan account. One Bakersfield parish alone stands to lose $9.5 million. Monsignor Perry Kavookjian told his congregation: "It boggles my mind that such restitution should involve taking money from innocent people who have done good for so many others." He also said the victims deserve real restitution and the situation grieves him on both sides.

Faith Lens for the Home: Two sets of innocent people - abuse victims and faithful parishioners - both losing something they're owed, in the same bankruptcy. Ask your family: "Can both griefs be true and real at once, without one canceling out the other?" Pray for the victims awaiting justice and for the parishes now starting over.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Bartholomew (Nathanael) - August 24

Likely the same man John's Gospel calls Nathanael, one of the Twelve, present at the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection. Tradition holds he carried the Gospel to Armenia and India and was martyred by flaying - a death so brutal that Renaissance artists (including Michelangelo, in the Sistine Chapel) painted him holding his own skin. He is patron of tanners, bookbinders, and those who suffer skin disease - his suffering became, in the Church's memory, a source of intercession rather than only horror.

Ask at dinner: "Nathanael doubted before he believed. Is there something about faith our family has doubted that we've never actually brought to Jesus directly, the way Nathanael did?"

✋ One Simple Action

Pray tonight for Baby Gabriel ahead of Thursday's hearing, for the victims and parishioners of the Diocese of Fresno, and for Catholics anywhere who feel a little more exposed for being visibly Catholic. Then ask Jesus the question Nathanael never had to ask, because Jesus asked it of him first: do you really see me?

📚 Read More

• Baby Gabriel update - surgery, custody fight, Thursday hearing: CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-surrogacy-dispute-baby-parents-custody/) and Focus on the Family Daily Citizen (https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/update-baby-gabriel-survives-first-heart-surgery-biological-parents-sue-surrogate/) and Texas AG press release (https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-paxton-secures-emergency-court-order-ensuring-baby-gabriel-receives-life-saving)
• FBI 2025 hate crime data - anti-Catholic incidents up: Catholic Culture (https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=70463) and Arab American Institute analysis of full FBI data (https://www.aaiusa.org/library/2025hatecrime)
• Fresno Diocese bankruptcy and parish building funds: KGET (https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/we-just-need-to-pray-for-a-just-and-fair-outcome-churches-face-loss-of-funds-amid-dioceses-bankruptcy/) and San Joaquin Valley Sun (https://sjvsun.com/news/bakersfield/parishes-in-fresno-diocese-to-lose-funds-in-bankruptcy-settlement/) and KERO/Turn to 23 (https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/bakersfield/catholic-churches-in-kern-county-may-lose-millions-of-local-funds-to-pay-fresno-diocese-bankruptcy-settlement)
• St. Bartholomew: Franciscan Media (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-bartholomew/)

Nathanael scoffed, then saw, then became a stone the New Jerusalem still stands on. A baby is recovering from heart surgery while adults who all claim to love him fight in court. Catholics remain visible targets even as hatred elsewhere recedes. A diocese is asking victims and parishioners to grieve side by side. Come and see, Jesus told Nathanael. It's still the only way anyone becomes a foundation stone.