Daily Reflection with Aneel Aranha

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.  Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)  Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”  Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.  As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. A couple of weeks ago (see In the...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. "Love your enemies." When Jesus told his listeners that they needed to love their enemies, they must have been shocked senseless! Never had they heard such a thing. They had always been encouraged to hate the enemy and destroy him, if possible. And here was Jesus telling them, in no uncertain terms, that they were to love them instead. Why? Because, as he went on to explain, God loved them. And this would have shocked...

F or I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.  “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.  “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you ove...

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. "Do unto others what you would have them do to you." If we — regardless of faith — can practice this one principle, the world would become a much better place than it is. We can extract many lessons from this simple statement, but we will look at just three of them. One: Treat others as you would have them treat you. Two: Put into something what you would have take out of it. Three: Don't ...

As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here. How about a little lesson in mathematics for something a little different today? A proof is a logical argument that tries to establish without any doubt that something is true. We generally use two forms of reasoning to arrive at a conclusion: inductive and deductive. I'm not gonna go heavy, so stay with me. Let's imagine that you have seen a hundred sheep, an...

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  “This, then, is how you should pray:  “‘Our Father in heaven,  hallowed be your name, y our kingdom come,  your will be done,  on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts,  as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation,  but deliver us from the evil one.’  For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Does God lead us into temptation? I doubt there is anyone who, at some point or another, has not wondered about this. Especially because in the prayer that our Lord taught us, there is a plea to God not to lead us into temptation. A cou...

These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.  Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.  He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”  After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. In to...

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.  After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” In Mark's non-stop action gospel, he describes Jesus as being baptized by John in the Jordan. As he came out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice was heard from heaven, saying, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And then Mark writes that at once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, or as another translation has it, the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. There he was with wild animals. The question that instantly comes to mind is, "Why? Why would the Holy Spirit drive Jesus into the desert?...

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.  Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”  Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” All around the world, churches are being sold off and converted into temples, stores, homes, and nightclubs. People are leaving the faith in droves, and for every person who comes to Christ, there are a thousand who go away. In churches across Europe — those that are still open, that is — it is common to find just a handful of people attending a Sunday service, and all of the...

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the Ancient Babylonian Empire, once sent his army marching into Jerusalem. After securing a tremendous victory, the army returned to Babylon with many prisoners in tow, among whom was Daniel, a devout, God-fearing teenager. Soon after, Nebuchadnezzar instructed his ministers to select handsome, healthy, and intelligent young men from among the captives and bring them to the palace to teach them Babylonian culture and traditions so that they could be of use in his service. One of them was Daniel. Right off, Daniel faced a problem. Nebuchadnezzar had dictated that the new trainees were to be served the same food and wine that was served on the royal table. While this ...

And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? May I ask you to imagine something for a moment, because there is no other way to understand this correctly? Yes? Ok. Imagine you are a Jew in 1st century Palestine. You have been waiting for the Messiah for the longest time, somebody who would liberate Israel from the yoke of Roman rule and establish David's throne again. You've been following this guy called Jesus for a while now, and you've seen him do some pretty fantastic stuff. He is standing in front of you now, ...

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.  “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. The word “hypocrite” ...

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”  They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”  Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”  “Twelve,” they replied.  “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”  They answered, “Seven.”  He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” A few days ago (see February 13: Slow Learners) we reflected upon how the apostles were slow to understand what Jesus was trying to teach them. Not surpris...

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. Have you ever tried explaining things to people and realized that no matter how logical or persuasive your arguments, they just don't get it? If you ever have — and surely you have — then you can imagine what Jesus must have felt like throughout his ministry. It didn't matter how profound his words were; they fell on deaf ears. And it didn't seem to matter that he backed up his words with the most amazing signs people had ever seen; they still weren't prepared to listen. Consider today's passage. Jesus had just multiplied seven loaves of bread and two fish to feed four thousand people. Just consider that for a moment. Word of the miracle stpread and reached the ears of the Pharisee...

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.  Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere . In this passage that we have reflected upon several times before, we find a leper approaching Jesus for healing. After healing the man, Jesus sends him away with a storm warning: "See that you don't tell anyone about this." However, the man went around telling everyone he came across what had ...

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”  His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”  “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.  “Seven,” they replied.  He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand were present. After he had sent them...

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.  After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.  Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Much of the dialog in Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ is in Aramaic, the language spoken by the Jews in the early first century. The word "Ephphata" that Mark uses in...

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.  “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”  She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Jesus once told a parable about a widow seeking justice from an unjust judge  (see Luke 18:1–8). In it, a judge who lacks compassion is repeatedly petitioned by a poor widow for justice. Despite being rebuffed t...