Today's Gospel is Jesus' parable of the great banquet: a host sends word that everything is ready, and he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, "Come, everything is now ready." But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. Paul's hymn in the first reading explains what kind of host this really is: Christ emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and, found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. The host does not shrink his guest list when people decline; he sends his servants further out to find anyone who will come. Three stories tonight ask, each in its own way, who gets a seat at the table.

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. Supreme Court Hears Case on Catholic Preschool Funding

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on November 3, 2026. The high court granted a petition filed by the preschool administrators at two Colorado-based schools, St. Mary Catholic Parish of Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish of Lakewood. The administrators argue a law that requires state-funded preschools to provide all families an equal opportunity to enroll in their programs, regardless of factors like religious affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, violates their religious rights. They are represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and its CEO, Mark Rienzi, who maintains that the Colorado law flatly discriminates against Catholic schools. "They're only excluding religious schools that are organized around beliefs that Colorado doesn't like," he has said. Law professor Douglas Laycock, who isn't representing either side, frames the real question more narrowly: the question is whether that discrimination is a protected exercise of religion.

Faith Lens for the Home: Tonight's host refuses to let his guest list shrink, no matter who declines or who gets turned away at the door. Pray this week for the two parishes and the families who want a seat at their preschool, and ask at dinner what it would look like for your own parish to make room for someone who's been quietly excluded.

2. Australia's High Court Weighs Teen Social Media Ban

Australia's highest court began hearing constitutional challenges Tuesday to the nation's world-first legislation banning children younger than 16 from popular social media platforms. The first challenge was brought by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project. Reddit's written submission pointed to problems enforcing the ban and a lack of scientific evidence about the harms of social media, arguing there is no "scientific consensus" on the point. The government's own research released in March showed seven in ten underage children continued to hold accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok since December, and a study published in the British Medical Journal in June found 85% of a group of Australian 12- to 17-year-olds continued to use restricted platforms. Communications Minister Anika Wells was in court for the proceedings and later told reporters the laws were under attack.

Faith Lens for the Home: The excuses in tonight's parable weren't wicked, just the ordinary business of a full life crowding out a genuine invitation - and a full schedule of screens can do the same thing to a family without anyone deciding it on purpose. Ask at dinner what your household would actually miss if phones disappeared for one evening, and let the answer guide what you protect on purpose this week.

3. Pope Leo Confirms Latin America Trip After Surgery

The Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Nov. 6-17, 2026 apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru will proceed according to the previously published program. Pope Leo XIV wrote on his X account that he hopes the journey will be an occasion to open hearts to one another and renew the commitment to proclaiming the Gospel with joy, nearly two weeks after undergoing lung surgery on Oct. 13. The Vatican said the surgical procedure was successful and without complications, and that the condition was localized and no further oncological treatment is necessary. The ten-city trip will mark the first papal visit to Argentina since John Paul II traveled there in 1987, and it will bring Leo back to Peru, where he first arrived as an Augustinian missionary in 1985.

Faith Lens for the Home: A pope getting on a plane less than three weeks after surgery is a small picture of the hymn in tonight's first reading - Christ's self-emptying never waited for convenient timing. Pray a decade of the Rosary tonight for Pope Leo's health and a safe journey, and ask your children who they could show up for this week even while feeling tired.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Martin de Porres - November 3

Martin de Porres was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan de Porras y de la Peña, and Ana Velázquez, a freed slave of African and Native descent. His father's shame over his dark complexion left him and his family in poverty for much of his childhood in Lima, Peru. He became a Dominican lay brother in 1603 at the age of 24, and was later assigned to the priory infirmary, where he remained in charge until his death, known for patiently caring for the sick even in the most difficult situations. Being of African heritage himself, he had a particular compassion for enslaved people, often fulfilling the basic needs their overseers neglected, and common people came to call him "Martin the charitable." He died on November 3, 1639, at age 60, leaving behind a legacy of love for all God's creatures, and was canonized in 1962, becoming patron saint of people of mixed race, barbers, and public health workers. This is an optional memorial on the General Roman Calendar; today's weekday readings from the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time are used at Mass unless a parish chooses the memorial.

Ask at dinner: "Who in our life gets treated like they don't belong at the table, the way Martin was treated as a child - and what's one small way we could welcome them this week?"

✋ One Simple Action

Tonight is a Tuesday, the day the Church traditionally prays the Sorrowful Mysteries. Pray one decade together for Pope Leo's health and for a safe apostolic journey that begins in three days, and add a second intention for any family you know who has quietly stopped showing up - at Mass, at the table, anywhere they used to belong. If your children ask why you're praying for someone they've never met, tell them about St. Martin de Porres, who spent his whole life making room for people everyone else had already excused.

📚 Read More

• Catholic preschool funding: CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-colorado-preschool-st-mary-catholic-parish-v-roy/) and OPB, oral argument coverage (https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/01/supreme-court-hears-colorado-pre-k-case-on-religious-freedom/) and SCOTUSblog, case background (https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/10/the-supreme-courts-next-major-case-on-the-free-exercise-of-religion/)
• Australia social media ban: ABC News Australia (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-03/high-court-challenge-to-under-16s-social-media-ban/107336886) and Al Jazeera, global context (https://aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/3/australias-high-court-hears-bid-to-overturn-under-16s-social-media-ban)
• Pope's Latin America trip: EWTN News (https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/leo-xiv-confirms-his-trip-to-uruguay-argentina-peru) and Catholic Review / OSV News, itinerary (https://catholicreview.org/pope-leo-xiv-to-visit-10-cities-in-south-america-in-november/) and ACI Africa, confirmation statement (https://www.aciafrica.org/news/24929/it-fills-me-with-joy-pope-leo-xiv-confirms-his-trip-to-uruguay-argentina-and-peru)
• St. Martin de Porres: National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/5-things-you-should-know-about-st-martin-de-porres/) and Catholic Online, saint profile (https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=306)

Every story tonight is really the same question the parable asks: who gets to come to the table, and who decides. A Supreme Court case is asking whether a Catholic preschool can stay Catholic and still be welcome; an Australian court is asking how much room screens should get in a childhood; and a pope recovering from surgery is choosing to get on a plane anyway, because the self-emptying Paul describes tonight never waited for convenient timing. None of that is abstract at your own table tonight. Pick one seat that's been empty too long, and go fill it.