Today's memorial readings give us one of the gentlest images in all of Scripture: "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you," God says through Isaiah. Then in the Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He calls a child over and says: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Today also begins Respect Life Month across the Church in the United States - a fitting pairing, on the memorial of a cloistered nun who believed holiness was found not in grand gestures but in small, hidden love, offered one ordinary moment at a time.

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. A Bishop Asks His Diocese to Fast Every Friday Through the Election

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington is calling on every Catholic in his diocese to pray and fast throughout October ahead of two Virginia ballot measures he's called "radically unjust" - one that would enshrine a broad right to abortion with no gestational limit, the other removing the state's definition of marriage. "Our Catholics Vote No campaign is rooted in prayer and fasting," Burbidge said, quoting the prophet Joel: "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning." He's asked Catholics to pray the Stations of the Cross and eat one meal with no meat each Friday, and to pray the rosary and fast from social media each Sunday.

Faith Lens for the Home: Isaiah says God comforts us the way a mother comforts a child - not with arguments, but with presence. Ask your family: "What does it mean to fight for something we believe in through prayer and sacrifice, rather than just words?" If you're in Virginia, early voting is already underway. Wherever you are, join the fast this Friday.

2. A Missionary Priest Who Founded 57 Parishes Takes His First Step Toward Sainthood

The Diocese of Duluth formally opened the canonization cause for Msgr. Joseph Francis Buh last week, granting him the title "Servant of God." Buh, a Slovenian-born priest, arrived in northern Minnesota in 1864 and spent nearly 60 years as a missionary - ministering to Ojibwe communities, immigrant miners on the Iron Range, and founding as many as 57 parishes before his death in 1922. If his cause succeeds, he would become Minnesota's first saint. Bishop Daniel Felton, who opened the cause, said simply: "That was his one desire - to be a servant of God. He is calling you and me to be a servant of God as well."

Faith Lens for the Home: Jesus said the greatest in the kingdom becomes like a child - small, dependent, unconcerned with status. Buh left behind his home country and spent six decades in obscurity among people the rest of the world had little interest in. Ask your family: "What would it look like for us to serve quietly, without needing anyone to notice?"

3. The Bishops Open Respect Life Month Under the Title "Mary, Mother of Life"

In his annual statement opening Respect Life Month, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, chose this year's theme - "Mary, Mother of Life" - and renewed the bishops' call for prayer and action against the spread of abortion pills, available since August through mail order and telehealth. "Today, with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks," Bishop Thomas said, thanking "the many thousands of Catholics across the country who have embraced the nationwide invitation to prayer and action," and asking that it continue through October. "Our Blessed Mother is our model for upholding the sanctity of all human life in every stage and circumstance. We entrust all our efforts to protect mothers and babies to her motherly care, which we greatly need at this time."

Faith Lens for the Home: As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you - today's own first reading, now also the frame the bishops chose for Respect Life Month. Ask your family: "What does it mean to ask Mary's help for something as practical and current as abortion pill access? Why turn to a mother for this?" Visit respectlife.org/abortion-pills to learn more and join the effort.

⛪ Family Saint Spotlight

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux) - October 1

Born in 1873 in France, Thérèse entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux at just fifteen and died of tuberculosis only nine years later, having never left the cloister or done anything the world would call remarkable. What she left behind was her "Little Way" - the conviction that we don't need extraordinary deeds to become saints, only extraordinary love poured into ordinary ones: a kind word to a sister who irritated her, patience with small sufferings offered quietly to God. She called herself a "little flower," content to be small so that God's love could be seen more clearly through her. She was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 - one of only four women to hold that title - and remains one of the most beloved saints in the world. She was also a profound influence on Blessed Fulton Sheen, whose beatification we marked just last week.

Ask at dinner: "Thérèse believed the smallest acts of love - done for people who annoy us, done when no one's watching - could become great in God's eyes. What's one small, hidden act of love our family could offer this week?"

✋ One Simple Action

Pray for Virginia's election and join Bishop Burbidge's Friday fast if you're able - even in solidarity from afar. Pray for Msgr. Buh's cause and for missionaries serving quietly today in places the world overlooks. Visit respectlife.org/abortion-pills and consider one action the bishops suggest. And in honor of St. Thérèse, choose one small, unseen act of love to offer today - the kind only God will notice.

📚 Read More

• Bishop Burbidge calls for October prayer and fasting: Diocese of Arlington, full statement (https://www.arlingtondiocese.org/2026/10/01/bishop-michael-f-burbidge-calls-all-catholics-to-prayer-and-fasting-throughout-october) and OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/virginia-bishop-urges-faithful-to-pray-fast-and-vote-no-on-abortion-same-sex-marriage-amendments/) and The Catholic Sun (https://www.catholicsun.org/2026/09/30/virginia-bishop-urges-faithful-to-pray-fast-and-vote-no-on-abortion-same-sex-marriage-amendments/)
• Msgr. Joseph Buh's canonization cause opens: OSV News (https://www.osvnews.com/canonization-cause-officially-opens-for-pioneering-minnesota-priest/) and Catholic World Report (https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/09/25/duluth-diocese-officially-begins-canonization-cause-for-minnesota-priest-joseph-buh/) and Catholic Review (https://catholicreview.org/canonization-cause-officially-opens-for-pioneering-minnesota-priest/)
• USCCB opens Respect Life Month - "Mary, Mother of Life": USCCB official statement (https://www.usccb.org/news/2026/respect-life-month-bishop-thomas-requests-prayer-and-action-abortion-pill) and OSV News via Detroit Catholic (https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/during-respect-life-month-catholics-urged-to-pray-take-action-to-stop-use-of-abortion-pill) and Vatican News (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2026-08/usa-bishops-abortion-pills-pro-life-prayer-action-church.html)
• St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Franciscan Media (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-therese-of-lisieux/)

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. A bishop is asking his whole diocese to pray and fast for the vulnerable. A priest who served immigrants and Ojibwe families for sixty years in near-total obscurity is now one step from sainthood. Our bishops opened Respect Life Month asking Mary, Mother of Life, to help protect mothers and babies. A cloistered nun who never left her convent became a Doctor of the Church by loving small. Become like a child today.