May 14, 2025 // Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 15: 9-17
Reflect on the Word //
The flight alone frightened me, more than twenty hours in the air. Even though a year had passed since my last chemotherapy treatment, I was still recovering. My body was weak and unpredictable at times. What if I’d taken on too much? What if I couldn’t do it?
Still, we’d been planning and praying about this trip to Australia for years. The talks had all been booked and promoted, contracts had been signed, my bags were packed, and now here we were at the airport, my husband dropping me off for a three-week ministry adventure “down under.” I hugged him and started to cry. I said, “I hope we’re doing the right thing.” He held me tight and said, “Go, and share the Good News.”
I braced myself, checked my bags, pulled up my compression socks, and got on the plane. With Jesus.
The flight was far less onerous than I had predicted, and the overall trip was phenomenal on many levels, grace after grace showering down. And though it was far from perfect, I left Australia after three weeks with a much stronger sense that the Lord had in fact chosen me for that work and He would bless it and make it fruitful.
Sister, some days, I don’t want to be chosen. Ever feel that way? The mandate, however loving and good to “bear fruit that will remain” (John 15:16), is too challenging. Its weight is more than you can bear. Its demands are more costly than you have the energy, desire, or courage to fulfill. You are not enough.
But Jesus chooses you anyway—because He is enough and wherever He goes, the Father goes with Him. Let’s remain with them.
When we’d rather sit on the couch than travel to another hemisphere, let’s remember, there is no more effective fuel than love of the Father and Son, a love that is rooted in sacrifice. They will help us to lean into all the ways we have been chosen, staying with us, and fueling our “fruit that will remain” (John 15:16) when we remain in them.
Relate to the Lord // Reflect on all the ways you have been chosen by God today.
Liz Kelly Stanchina is a jazz singer who met Jesus in late-night adoration. She is the community leader for women’s formation at the Word on Fire Institute and the author of more than a dozen award-winning books, including Jesus Approaches, Love Like a Saint, and the Blessed is She Advent devotional A Thrill of Hope. She holds advanced degrees in creative writing and Catholic studies. She is trained as a spiritual director, leading retreats and speaking around the world with a particular focus on helping women to flourish in their faith. Visit her website at LizK.org or follow her on Instagram at LizKToday.
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