What If This Is Enough? | This Week’s Gospel Reflection
A personal note on contentment, followed by this Sunday’s Gospel reflection and discussion questions
Note From Me: What if This is Enough?
Did you use a word generator to help you pick a word for the 2026? I didn’t. I like the idea of choosing a one-word theme for a new year, and I have tried it in the past, but in typical control-freak fashion, I never liked the word I got and kept hitting “refresh” until I was overwhelmed with suggestions and self-doubt. Simplicity, joy, patience, silence, surrender, peace, diligence, and renew all seemed like good things. But were they my thing? For an entire year? I wasn’t sure.
So this year I skipped the ritual. But since the start of January, one word has continually sneaked into my thoughts and prayers: Enough.
My book You Are Enough is my best-selling book by far, and I have always thought it’s because we women like the title. There is something about “enough” that speaks to our hearts.
These days, as I pray for good things for myself and those I love, I find myself pausing and wondering What would happen if this particular thing I’m praying for never comes to be? What if what I have is enough?
I recently turned down an invitation to be a guest on a national radio show just because saying yes would take time and energy I would rather spend on other things. I used to say yes to every media opportunity because I was always striving, always seeking, always growing, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. But this time I thought: No thank you. I am doing enough.
I was at the grocery store the other day, planning dinner from a recipe in my mind. I stopped in the midst of gathering ingredients into my cart, though, as I considered items I knew were in my freezer and pantry. I could probably create several dinners with those. I put the other things back and returned home with just a gallon of milk. What we had at home was enough.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this theme and what God has planned, but for now, just sitting with the word is… enough. Though I have some trepidation about fully embracing it, I love the sense of contentment that I can find in listening when the Holy Spirit nudges. I do enough. I have enough. I am enough (with God).
With grace,
Sunday Gospel Reflection: Leaving Our Nets
Gospel for Sunday, January 25, 2026
Matthew 4:12-23
At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, nothing about His approach feels rushed or dramatic. He doesn’t gather a crowd first. He doesn’t announce a strategy. He simply begins walking, and calling.
“Come after me,” He says.
That’s it. No long explanation. No promises of ease or comfort. Just an invitation, and a direction.
How ordinary the setting is! Jesus meets these men in the middle of their workday. Nets in hand. Boats on the shore. Life already in motion. And yet, when He calls them, they leave everything behind immediately.
St. John Chrysostom points out that this readiness is not about recklessness, but trust.
“For such was the power of Him who spoke, that they followed at once, leaving all things behind, and needing no further proof.”
St. John Chrysostom (Hom. in Matt. xiv)
Jesus doesn’t wait for perfect conditions, and He doesn’t ask for perfect understanding. He simply calls, and gives grace enough to respond.
That’s comforting, isn’t it? God doesn’t require us to have our lives all figured out before following Him. He meets us in the middle of our ordinary days and invites us to follow Him. The question is not whether we’re ready.
The question is whether we’re willing to leave the nets behind.
Questions for Journaling or Small Group Discussion
1. Jesus calls the disciples in the middle of their ordinary workday. Where might God be speaking to you right now in the middle of your ordinary life?
2. The fishermen leave their nets immediately. What “nets” might you be clinging to? Habits, fears, expectations, or comforts that make it harder to follow Jesus freely?
3. Jesus doesn’t explain the whole plan; He simply says, “Come after me.” How do you usually respond when God invites you forward without giving all the details?
4. What does it mean to you, personally, to be a “fisher of men” in your current season of life, at home, at work, or in your relationships?
5. St. John Chrysostom emphasizes the power of Christ’s call rather than the disciples’ strength. Where do you need to rely more on God’s grace and less on your own readiness?
6. If Jesus were to speak one simple invitation to your heart this week, what do you sense He might be asking you to leave behind… or step into?
Embracing “enough” leaves space for the infinite. When we don’t fill our hearts with everything around us, we create that room for God to do what he needs to do within us. It’s the difference between grasping and having a disposition of being able to readily receive. Love this reflection—it will stay with me, I’m sure. 💕
Love it! It is very easy to get caught up in the “more is better” perspective, because being “content” with what we have is counter cultural. But once again, we are called to swim against the tide and so we must!