Reading 1
1 Kgs 18:20-39
Ahab sent to all the children of Israel
and had the prophets assemble on Mount Carmel.
Elijah appealed to all the people and said,
“How long will you straddle the issue?
If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.”
The people, however, did not answer him.
So Elijah said to the people,
“I am the only surviving prophet of the LORD,
and there are four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal.
Give us two young bulls.
Let them choose one, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood,
but start no fire.
I shall prepare the other and place it on the wood,
but shall start no fire.
You shall call on your gods, and I will call on the LORD.
The God who answers with fire is God.”
All the people answered, “Agreed!”
Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal,
“Choose one young bull and prepare it first,
for there are more of you.
Call upon your gods, but do not start the fire.”
Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it
and called on Baal from morning to noon, saying,
“Answer us, Baal!”
But there was no sound, and no one answering.
And they hopped around the altar they had prepared.
When it was noon, Elijah taunted them:
“Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditating,
or may have retired, or may be on a journey.
Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears,
as was their custom, until blood gushed over them.
Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state
until the time for offering sacrifice.
But there was not a sound;
no one answered, and no one was listening.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.”
When the people had done so, he repaired the altar of the LORD
that had been destroyed.
He took twelve stones, for the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob,
to whom the LORD had said, “Your name shall be Israel.”
He built an altar in honor of the LORD with the stones,
and made a trench around the altar
large enough for two measures of grain.
When he had arranged the wood,
he cut up the young bull and laid it on the wood.
“Fill four jars with water,” he said,
“and pour it over the burnt offering and over the wood.”
“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he said,
and they did it a third time.
The water flowed around the altar,
and the trench was filled with the water.
At the time for offering sacrifice,
the prophet Elijah came forward and said,
“LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel
and that I am your servant
and have done all these things by your command.
Answer me, LORD!
Answer me, that this people may know that you, LORD, are God
and that you have brought them back to their senses.”
The LORD’s fire came down
and consumed the burnt offering, wood, stones, and dust,
and it lapped up the water in the trench.
Seeing this, all the people fell prostrate and said,
“The LORD is God! The LORD is God!”
Gospel
Mt 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Meditation: Matthew 5:20-26
Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees… . (Matthew 5:20)
Have you clothed yourself with the righteousness of Christ today? Think of how Jesus is calling us to live as Christians. Every day we are faced with innumerable decisions, but the world urges us not to think too deeply about anything. Just find the quick and easy answer to every challenge, and we’ll be happy. That philosophy even finds its way into our view of the Christian life.
Can we really simplify God’s eternal plan of salvation into an easy-to-follow three-step plan? If it was that simple, wouldn’t you expect the “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees to be more than enough? After all, they were quite rigorous in their observances.
Maybe instead of thinking of surpassing the Pharisees in terms of the amount of things we do—for instance, five steps instead of three steps—we should think of it in terms of the kind of things we do. It’s helpful to see that right after telling us to go beyond the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus tells us not to be angry with each other. He tells us to be quick to forgive and cautions us against calling one another fools. So the righteousness Jesus is talking about isn’t a matter of doing more. It’s a matter of loving more. It’s a matter of giving generously, forgiving readily, and letting go of resentments immediately.
This is a challenging message. Jesus is asking us to do nothing less than to rise above our human flaws and weaknesses. He is asking us to show the same kind of love for other people that he has for us. Of course, he is offering us his grace and help to do it, but it is still up to us to choose this righteous path.
Is there someone you have tried to forgive but have been unable to? Or are you harboring anger or resentment against someone? Ask Jesus to fill you with his love so that you can take another step closer to his level of holiness. Make it a point today to love your brothers and sisters in Christ, and even your enemies, to the best of your ability. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen. Jesus will see to that!
“Lord, I want to clothe myself in your righteousness. Show me how to love as relentlessly as you do.”
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