Daily Reflection with Aneel Aranha

He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” The famous author H. G. Wells once wrote a story titled “The Country of the Blind”. It told the story of a hiker who accidentally stumbled into a village of people who have been blind for generations. He remembered a saying that “in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” and, therefore, believed the people would make him their leader, appreciating the fact that he could see. Instead, they think he is mad because of the things that he describes, and set about “curing” hi

Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” This comment by Jesus is not intended to disparage Mary, as some might suggest, because there was perhaps nobody in human history (other than Jesus himself) who has been so obedient to the will of God as Mary. Neither is this comment intended to minimize the importance of a biological family. This comment is to let his listeners know that there was a new way that everybody was going to relate to each other because of their faith in him. In his gospel, John writes:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Today we honor the conversion of Paul. You might know that Paul, also known as Saul, was a devout Jew who was a persecutor of the early Church. Then one day he had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and overnight he went from persecutor to evangelist and is one person who did more to spread the gospel than perhaps anybody else. He made three missionary journeys across the ancient world, sowing the faith and planting churches wherever he went, despite all the obstacles and hindrances that came h

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending  the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. The Roman Empire was at the height of its power 2,000 years ago. The Romans controlled everything, and had a say in every aspect of society. Even the Jewish authorities paid allegiance to the Romans, including Herod, who was as corrupt as they come. Enter Jesus, who says four things to kick off his ministry:

. Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” Today’s passage is only two verses long, but is packed with enough questions to reflect upon for an entire week — or an entire lifetime. In this passage we find people thronging to see Jesus. However, the things he is saying are so far beyond their scope of understanding they believe he is out of his mind. If Jesus were to be with us today, and say the same things that he said to the people two thousand years ago, would we think any differently? Wouldn’t we, too, believe that he was out of his mind? How often do we believe that what Jesus asks us to do is not just impractical in today’s world, but impossible too?  Let us, for instance, consider this instruction that Jesus gives, “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also” (Luke 6:29). How many of us would actually do

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John theh brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Simon, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, another James, another Simon, and Judas. What a strange assortment of people. Four fishermen, one tax collector, one political radical, and six other men whose names never appear again in Mark’s gospel except to reveal one as a betrayer. These were twelve men who changed the world, even Judas, because he too played a part in the story