Jesus tells the crowd that this generation keeps asking for a sign, and the only one it will get is the sign of Jonah. The people of Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching, and the queen of the south traveled a great distance to hear Solomon, yet Jesus says "there is something greater than Solomon here." Paul tells the Galatians the same good news from another angle: they are children of the freeborn woman, so they should live like it. The Psalm answers with the refrain "Blessed be the name of the Lord forever." This morning the Church has plenty of reasons to say it, and a few reasons to pray hard: the Holy Father is heading into surgery, a public execution has been planned, and the Gulf Coast is digging out.

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. Pope Leo XIV Will Have Surgery for a Lung Nodule

After the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Leo told the crowd in St. Peter's Square that doctors found a nodule in one of his lungs and recommend removing it. "It was detected at a very early stage and is well localized," he said, and he closed with, "I thank you for your spiritual closeness and entrust myself to your prayers." Vatican press office director Matteo Bruni said the operation is scheduled for the first days of this week, with about a week of recovery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital. The Vatican has not said whether the nodule is cancerous, and the Pope's engagements this week, including the closing Mass of the family meeting at the Vatican, will be cancelled. For now the Vatican does not expect the surgery to affect his November 6-17 trip to South America.

Faith Lens for the Home: The Holy Father asked for our prayers in plain words, and a household is exactly where that kind of request gets answered. Ask your family: "Who do we know who is waiting on test results or a surgery, and how can we pray for them by name tonight?" Pray a decade of the Rosary for Pope Leo, his surgeons, and everyone facing an operation this week.

2. Bishops Condemn Plan to Livestream a Military Execution

The Pentagon has confirmed that the December 3 execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009 and was sentenced to death in 2013, will be livestreamed. Secretary Pete Hegseth said "we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public." Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, said he learned of the decision "with shock and great sorrow" and called it "a barbaric promotion of a culture of death" that "must be reconsidered," and critics from both parties have objected as well. Vice President JD Vance has said he doubts the livestream will actually happen.

Faith Lens for the Home: Archbishop Coakley points to Romans 12:17: "do not repay anyone evil for evil." The Catechism teaches that the death penalty is inadmissible today because it is "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person" and because society can protect itself without taking a life. Ask your family: "Why is it wrong to turn someone's death into a show, even when that person did something terrible?" Pray for the families of the 13 who were killed, for those who were wounded, and for Nidal Hasan's conversion.

3. Hurricane Isaias Leaves a Trail of Damage Across the Gulf Coast

Isaias came ashore near Destin, Florida, Friday night as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds, then moved north through Alabama and weakened to a post-tropical storm. At least four people died, two in Alabama and two in Florida, one of them a man found in his garage with a running generator. More than 884,000 customers lost power at the peak on Saturday morning, and about 389,000 were still out Sunday morning across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. Roofs were torn off homes, apartments and a Pensacola hotel, and flooding remains a threat while crews work to restore power.

Faith Lens for the Home: Recovery is slow, boring work, and it is where neighbors become the face of Christ. Ask your family: "If a storm took our power for a week, who would check on us, and who would we check on?" Pray for the families who lost someone, and if you have friends or relatives on the Gulf Coast, send them a message today. Remind your kids that a generator never belongs indoors or in a garage.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Carlo Acutis - October 12

Carlo was born in London in 1991, grew up in Milan, and died of leukemia on October 12, 2006, at 15. He made his first Communion at seven, went to Mass every day, and called the Eucharist "the highway to heaven." Carlo used his computer skills to build an online catalog of Eucharistic miracles from around the world, and he said that people who sit before Jesus in the Eucharist "become saints." Pope Leo XIV canonized him on September 7, 2025, the Church's first millennial saint. October 12, the day he died, is kept as his feast in the dioceses of Milan and Assisi.

Ask at dinner: "Carlo used a computer to point people to Jesus. What is one way we could use our phones or screens this week to help someone know Him better?"

✋ One Simple Action

Do as Carlo did and give Jesus ten minutes. Tonight, after dinner, turn off the screens and pray together for Pope Leo before an image of Christ or the Blessed Sacrament if your parish chapel is open. A decade of the Rosary, then a Hail Mary each for his surgeons, for the victims of the storm, and for the people involved in the Fort Hood case.

📚 Read More

• Pope Leo's surgery: Vatican News (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-10/pope-leo-xiv-to-undergo-surgery-remove-nodule-lung.html) and National Catholic Register (https://www.ncregister.com/cna/pope-leo-lung-surgery)
• Execution livestream: National Catholic Reporter (https://www.ncronline.org/print/pdf/node/341411) and SBS News, on the political and human-rights reaction (https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/live-stream-execution-us-military-firing-squad-nidal-hasan/tzld6xngb)
• Hurricane Isaias: CBS News live updates (https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/isaias-southeastern-u-s-gulf-coast/), FOX10 News (https://www.fox10tv.com/2026/10/10/isaias-leaves-2-dead-widespread-outages-after-category-2-landfall-near-destin/), and WFTV (https://www.wftv.com/news/local/live-updates-hurricane-isaias-weakened-post-tropical-cyclone-after-hitting-florida/TFHKTG6M5FG4NGPNM4TKANEVYE/)
• St. Carlo Acutis: USCCB (https://www.usccb.org/news/2024/pope-recognizes-miracle-needed-churchs-first-millennial-saint) and Catholic World Report, on his feast day (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/?p=380461)

Jesus says the generation that waits for a sign has already been given one, and that something greater than Jonah is here. This week, hold the Holy Father in your prayers, ask the Lord to turn hearts away from spectacle and toward mercy, and keep an eye on your neighbors. Carlo found his highway to heaven at the altar. May your household find it there too.