Official Translation
Reading 1 – 1 Kings 18.20-39
Ahab sent to all the children of Israel,
and gathered the prophets together
on Mount Carmel.
Elijah came near to all the people, and said,
“How long will you waver between the two sides?
If the Lord is God, follow him;
but if Baal, then follow him.”
The people answered him not a word.
Then Elijah said to the people,
“I, even I alone, am left a prophet of the Lord;
but Baal’s prophets are four hundred fifty men.
Let them therefore give us two bulls;
and let them choose one bull for themselves,
and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood,
but put no fire under;
and I will dress the other bull,
and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it.
You call on the name of your god,
and I will call on the Lord’s name.
The God who answers by fire is God.”
All the people answered, “It is well said.”
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal,
“Choose one bull for yourselves,
and dress it first, for you are many;
and call on the name of your god,
but put no fire under it.”
They took the bull which was given them,
and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal
from morning even until noon, saying, “Baal, hear us!”
But there was no voice,
nor any who answered.
They leaped about the altar which was made.
At noon, Elijah mocked them, and said,
“Cry aloud; for he is a god.
Either he is meditating, or he has gone to rest,
or he is on a journey,
or perhaps he sleeps and must be awakened.”
They cried aloud and cut themselves
in their way with knives and lances,
until the blood gushed out on them.
It was so, when midday was past,
that they prophesied until
the time of the offering of the sacrifice;
but there was no voice,
no one was there to answer; no one was listening.
Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me”;
and all the people came near to him.
He repaired the altar of the Lord that was thrown down.
Elijah took twelve stones,
according to the number of
the tribes of the sons of Jacob,
to whom the Lord’s word came, saying,
“Israel shall be your name.”
With the stones he built an altar in the Lord’s name.
He made a trench around the altar,
large enough to contain two measures of seed.
He put the wood in order,
and cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood.
He said, “Fill four jars with water,
and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood.”
He said, “Do it a second time”,
and they did it the second time.
He said, “Do it a third time”,
and they did it the third time.
The water ran around the altar;
and filled the trench with water.
At the time of the offering of the sacrifice,
Elijah the prophet came near, and said,
“O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel,
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel,
and that I am your servant,
and that I have done all these things at your word.
Hear me, Lord, hear me,
that this people may know that you, the Lord, are God,
and that you have turned their heart back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell,
and consumed the burnt offering,
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust,
and licked up the water that was in the trench.
When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces.
They said, “The Lord is God! The Lord is God!”
Responsorial – Psalm 16.1b-2ab, 4, 5ab+8, 11
R. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
My soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord.”
R. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied:
they who give gifts to another god.
Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
nor take their names on my lips.
R. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
The Lord assigned my portion and my cup.
You made my lot secure.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
R. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
You will show me the path of life.
In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand there are delights forevermore.
R. Preserve me, God, for in you do I take refuge.
Gospel – Matthew 5.17-19
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that
I came to destroy
the law or the prophets.
I came not to destroy but to fulfill.
For most certainly, I tell you,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not even one iota or one comma
shall in any way pass away from the law,
until all things are accomplished.
Whoever, therefore, shall break
one of these least commandments
and teach others to do so,
shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven;
but whoever shall do and teach them
shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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