Matthew 8:18-27 NRSVue

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. ¹⁹A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ²²But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. ²⁵And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” ²⁶And 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. ²⁷They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

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Some thoughts on this scripture

Reflection
People who are not very religious sometimes say they ‘admire’ Jesus. But Jesus is not someone to be ‘admired’. The Gospel can only be read as a challenge, either to follow Jesus or to ‘go sadly away’ like the rich young man in Mt.19.

Reflection
Are there storms in my life? I will ask the Lord to calm them, or at least to make me less anxious. Anxiety is not from the good spirit.