FIRST READING
1 Kings 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!”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 16:1b-2ab, 4, 5ab and 8, 11
R. (1b) Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge; I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
They multiply their sorrows who court other gods. Blood libations to them I will not pour out, nor will I take their names upon my lips.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
O LORD, my allotted portion and cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
ALLELUIA
Psalm 25:4b, 5a
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Teach me your paths, my God, and guide me in your truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Matthew 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.”
REFLECTIONS:
Why do people tend to view the law of God negatively
rather than positively? Jesus attitude towards the law of God can be summed
up in the great prayer of Psalm 119: Oh, how I love your law! It
is my meditation all the day. For the people of Israel the law could
refer to the ten commandments or to the five Books of Moses, called the
Pentateuch, which explain the commandments and ordinances of God for his
people. The law also referred to the whole teaching or way of life which
God gave to his people. The Jews in Jesus time also used it as a description
of the oral or scribal law. Needless to say, the scribes added many more
things to the law than God intended. That is why Jesus often condemned
the scribal law. It placed burdens on people which God had not intended.
Jesus, however, made it very clear that the essence of Gods law his
commandments and way of life, must be fulfilled. The law of God is truth
and when we live according to that truth it produces the fruits of righteousness,
holiness, peace, and joy.
Jesus taught reverence for Gods law reverence for God himself, for
the Lords Day, reverence or respect for parents, respect for life, for
property, for another persons good name, respect for oneself and for ones
neighbor lest wrong or hurtful desires master us. Reverence and respect
for Gods commandments teach us the way of love love of God and love
of neighbor. What is impossible to men is possible to God and those who
have faith in God. God gives us the grace to love as he loves, to forgive
as he forgives, to think as he thinks, and to act as he acts. The Lord
loves righteousness and hates wickedness. As his followers we must love
his commandments and hate every form of sin. Do you love the commands of
the Lord?
Lord Jesus, grant this day, to direct and sanctify, to rule and govern
our hearts and bodies, so that all our thoughts, words and deeds may be
according to your Fathers law and thus may we be saved and protected through
your mighty help.
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