Domus Daily
Monday, September 28, 2026 | Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Daily reflections for the whole household. Find your path at wearedomus.com/start.

Dear Catholic Parents,

Job loses everything and answers: "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." The disciples argue about which of them is the greatest, and Jesus sets a child beside him: "The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." Both readings turn the world's ranking upside down. Pope Leo spent the weekend in France saying the same thing to crowds of hundreds of thousands and to five thousand sick pilgrims, many of them in wheelchairs.

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. 800,000 in Paris - and Adult Baptisms in France Have Tripled

About 800,000 people filled the Champs-Élysées and the Place de la Concorde on Saturday for an open-air Mass with Pope Leo XIV, roughly 200,000 more than had registered, the Vatican said. It was the first official papal visit to France in 18 years, and some French secularists criticized the choice of venue. Behind the crowd is a quieter trend: adult baptisms in France have tripled since 2016, to about 13,000 this year. "Let it overflow," Leo told the crowd, "so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied." Six altar servers with Down syndrome served at the Mass.

Faith Lens for the Home: The disciples argued about who was greatest, and Jesus put a child beside him. Ask your family: "Who is easy to overlook in our parish or our family, and how could we put them closer to the center?" Pray for the thousands of adults France baptizes each year.

2. "You Are Not a Burden": Leo to 5,000 Sick Pilgrims at Lourdes

On Sunday at Lourdes, Pope Leo met about 5,000 sick people and caregivers and, in a clear reference to France's new assisted-dying law, said: "No human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity." "We must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion." He called for better palliative care and closed with: "I want to tell you that you are not a burden. You are the beating heart of our humanity and a precious treasure for the Church." Back home, Illinois' assisted-suicide law took effect September 12. It applies statewide, but courts have temporarily shielded only the plaintiffs in Bishop Paprocki's and Cardinal Cupich's lawsuits from its requirements.

Faith Lens for the Home: Job lost everything and stayed precious to God, because dignity was never measured by usefulness. Ask your family: "Who do we know who is sick or elderly, and when did we last visit just to be with them?" Pray for the Illinois sisters, physicians, and hospitals who want to accompany the dying without helping to end their lives.

3. Seven Survivors, Nearly Two Hours - and a Rosary for October

That evening at Lourdes, Leo met privately with seven French survivors of clergy abuse. The meeting was planned for an hour and ran nearly two; he heard each person individually before speaking with the group. "There was something sincere about him," survivor Jérôme Guillement said afterward. Separately, people who accuse Father Marko Rupnik of abuse had written to the pope asking for transparency about his Vatican trial; his mosaics on the Basilica of the Rosary remain covered. Earlier that day at Lourdes, Leo said the Church must heal her "wounds, infidelities, and painful errors." Before the Angelus, he invited all Catholics to pray the Rosary through October "that wars may cease and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict."

Faith Lens for the Home: Leo gave nearly twice the time he planned and listened one person at a time. Ask your family: "When someone tells us they've been hurt, do we listen first or defend first?" Pray for every survivor tonight, and begin the Rosary the pope is asking for.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions - September 28

Lorenzo Ruiz was a married layman from Binondo, Manila, born to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother. He belonged to the Dominican Confraternity of the Rosary and worked as a clerk for the Dominicans. In 1636 he was caught up in a murder accusation and left Manila with Dominican missionaries bound for Japan, where Christians were being hunted. He was arrested in Japan and taken to Nagasaki, where he was hung upside down, with one hand left free to signal that he would give up his faith. He never did, and he died September 29, 1637. In 1987 he became the first canonized Filipino saint, and he is patron of altar servers. Today is also the optional memorial of St. Wenceslaus, the Bohemian duke martyred by his own brother.

Ask at dinner: "Lorenzo was a clerk and a layman, not a priest or a bishop, and he is the first saint of the Philippines. Who in our lives serves quietly without a title, and have we ever thanked them?"

✋ One Simple Action

Take up Pope Leo's invitation tonight: pray a Rosary, or one decade, for an end to wars, and keep it going through October. Pair it with one small act of mercy - a visit to someone sick or elderly, or a call to someone you've been avoiding. And pray for the Pope as he finishes his trip in Metz today.

📚 Read More

Job had nothing left and still blessed the name of the Lord. A pope told five thousand sick people they are not a burden. Eight hundred thousand gathered in Paris, and seven survivors were heard for nearly two hours. The one who is least among you is the greatest. Put someone near the center today.

For families with children:

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In Christ,
Deacon Michael Halbrook
wearedomus.com

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