Know Christ Better – Reflection on Matthew 8:23-27
It isn’t easy to share the details of deeply personal life experiences that shape us. For instance, I have felt the closeness of my possible physical death numerous times. I know faith, grace, and prayer saved me each time. At 50, I looked directly into the reflection of my worldliness to experience a different kind of death, a death to self. Almost two decades have passed since that moment. Christ inside has continued to calm wave after wave of intense internal and external storms of spiritual and physical natures. One recent challenge I am reluctantly learning to share is an ongoing, almost three-year battle with advanced cancer. Everything has gone very well due to the support of family, friends, faith, and especially prayer. Instead of sadness and feelings of woe, our response to intense challenges is to trust and know Christ better so that through us, He may touch the lives of others.
Jesus Stilling the Tempest by James Tissot (full-resolution painting)
More details are available on the Brooklyn Museum website.
Additional Ordinary Time Reflections
Matthew 8:23-27 – Scripture*
Jesus Stills the Storm
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. 27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Additional Thoughts
Thank you for meditating on this Gospel and reading this Lectio Divina on Matthew 8:23-27 Reflection – Know Christ Better.
Would you like to contribute related thoughts to these Lectio reflections on the Gospel readings? Since Lectio is not the only contemplative prayer style, others might appreciate various forms of expression in this ministry. Do you see God’s grandeur everywhere and unconditionally enjoy sharing the love of Christ that you have inside? Are you willing to be anonymous in what you would share? If so, email me.
Prayer for young families:
Lord, let the young families of our communities experience your joy, peace, comfort, and love despite worldly distractions.
*This site has permission to use the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) Bible Matthew 8 passage.
The Immersive Prayer website follows the guidelines for image web use at the Brooklyn Museum and the Jewish Museum websites.
Primary Lectio Divina word or phrase: Know Christ Better
Page and discussion group on these Lectio Divina daily Gospel Readings.
Discussion group on St. John of the Cross.