In today's Gospel, ten people with leprosy cry out to Jesus from the distance their disease has forced on them, and all ten are healed - but only one turns back to fall at his feet and say thank you. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?" St. Paul's letter to Titus, read at Mass today, names what all ten had in common before any of them said a word of gratitude: "not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the holy Spirit." The Church remembers St. Martin of Tours today, a soldier who gave away half his own cloak to a freezing beggar before he was even baptized, on the same Wednesday the nation sets aside to thank its veterans.

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 Meets Abuse Survivors, Draws Millions in Argentina

In Argentina, Pope Leo XIV met with five survivors of abuse by members of the clergy and ecclesiastical institutions in the country for over an hour on Monday afternoon, November 9, according to the Holy See Press Office, and the Pope "spoke individually with each of them, listened to their words and to the painful stories of their experiences, as well as to their proposals for strengthening paths towards healing within the Church." At the end of the meeting, he also greeted them together and imparted his Apostolic Blessing, expressing his gratitude for this moment and for their witness of faith. A day later, Pope Leo XIV prayed with around 1 million young people in Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, at a prayer vigil on Tuesday evening. He picked up a question that changed the life of one young person who offered her testimony: "Who told you that it was too late?" It is never too late to answer God's call, he said, since no one has "fallen so low that Christ cannot raise them up."

Faith Lens for the Home: Today's Gospel turns on who comes back; Pope Leo's choice to sit alone with each survivor and listen before any public word is a reminder that gratitude and healing both start with one specific person, not a crowd. Ask at dinner tonight: is there someone we've been meaning to go back to, just to say thank you or I'm sorry?

2. Death Penalty Support Falls Below Majority

Support for the death penalty among U.S. adults has dropped below the majority level for the first time since 1971, a new Gallup poll found. Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults said they are in favor of the death penalty for convicted murderers, while another 45% said they are opposed, the Nov. 10 poll said. While Gallup called the findings statistically similar to last year's rate of 52% approval, the new poll marks the first time support for the practice has been a minority position since 1971, when it was also at 49%. The last time support was lower than its current findings was in 1966, when a record-low 42% favored the death penalty; support peaked at 80% in 1994. Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, said in written comments to OSV News, "These results are a clear indication that fewer and fewer people are buying the false rhetoric that the death penalty is effective or fair."

Faith Lens for the Home: The Catechism teaches that the death penalty is "inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person," precisely because modern societies have other ways to keep citizens safe without taking a life. Pray tonight for both the victims of violent crime and for those currently facing execution - mercy for one does not require forgetting the other.

3. Nation Pauses to Thank Its Veterans

The president has proclaimed Nov. 11, 2026 as Veterans Day, encouraging Americans "to reflect on the fearlessness and sacrifice of our veterans through public ceremonies and private thoughts and prayers of gratitude." USPS offices, federal offices and most banks are closed for Veterans Day on Wednesday, Nov. 11, while the stock market is open, private shippers are delivering and national parks are free to visit. Veterans Day restaurant deals include free boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings, a Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse, free shrimp at Red Lobster and more for veterans.

Faith Lens for the Home: Today's Gospel is about remembering to say thank you before the moment passes, and Veterans Day hands families an unscripted, specific way to do exactly that. Ask at dinner: is there a veteran in our own family or parish we could call or visit today, instead of only thinking about it?

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Martin of Tours - November 11

Today the Church remembers St. Martin of Tours, born 316 in Sabaria, Pannonia (now Szombathely, Hungary), and died November 8, 397, in Candes, Gaul. Of pagan parentage, Martin chose Christianity at age 10, against his family's wishes. As a young soldier stationed outside Amiens, he came across a beggar who was suffering on a freezing winter's day. Moved with compassion, he cut his military cloak in two with his sword, giving half to the beggar. He had not yet been baptized. Tradition holds that that night, he dreamed that Jesus himself was clothed with the torn cloak, a vision that confirmed him in the faith he was baptized into soon after. In 371 he was made bishop of Tours, a role the humble ex-soldier is said to have tried to avoid. He remains the patron saint of France, soldiers, and tailors - which makes today, of all days, a fitting one to remember him.

Ask at dinner: "Who is someone you could give something to today, before they even have to ask?"

✋ One Simple Action

Find one genuinely warm item in your house tonight - a coat, a blanket, a pair of gloves, not a bag marked "someday" - and get it into a parish donation bin, a shelter drop-off, or a neighbor's hands before the weekend. If you know a veteran, in your own family, your parish, or down the street, call or visit them today and say thank you out loud; it costs more than a word on a card, which is exactly why it matters. Tonight's Rosary is the Glorious Mysteries.

📚 Read More

• Pope Leo in Argentina: Vatican News (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-11/pope-abuse-victims-argentina-church-healing-protection-closeness.html) and EWTN News, live trip updates (https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/live-updates-pope-leo-xiv-in-south-america) and Al Jazeera, independent coverage (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/9/pope-meets-with-clergy-abuse-survivors-in-argentina)
• Death penalty poll: OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/poll-support-for-death-penalty-dips-to-minority-among-us-adults-for-first-time-in-decades/) and National Catholic Reporter, independent coverage (https://www.ncronline.org/news/support-death-penalty-dips-minority-among-us-adults-first-time-decades)
• Veterans Day: The White House, 2026 proclamation (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/11/veterans-day-2026/) and NewsNation, what's open and closed (https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/holidays/veterans-day-whats-open-and-closed/)
• St. Martin of Tours: Encyclopaedia Britannica (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Martin-of-Tours) and New World Encyclopedia (https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Martin_of_Tours)

Ten were healed on the road today, and only one turned back to say so out loud. Pope Leo sitting with five survivors before any public Mass, a Gallup poll moving because enough people quietly changed their minds, and a federal holiday built entirely around a thank-you are three versions of the same thing: turning back, on purpose, toward one particular person. Say one specific thank-you out loud at your table tonight - to a spouse, a child, a neighbor, or a veteran down the street - and mean it. The readings move on tomorrow, but gratitude doesn't need a feast day to practice.