"Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pas from the law, until all things have taken place." (Mt 5:18)
READING OF THE DAY
A reading from the First Book of Kings
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 OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew
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."
WEDNESDAY OF THE TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Mt 5:17-19
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear People of God,
In God's Word today, God the Father instructs humanity to walk in God's way. Because God's laws will bring happiness to people.
God the Father does not want people to fall into Satan's trap, that is, Satan will also take advantage and use God's laws to pretend to be from God. Because the way they tempt is very clever and sophisticated, God the Father wants humans to be alert: to live simply, with humility, humble themselves, listen, and obey God the Father's will from their thoughts, words, actions, and deeds. That way, Satan will no longer have the opportunity to entice and tempt people to follow their law. Satan hates and resents humanity greatly since humans were created in the image of God and loved by Him. They want to tempt people to sin against God, against humanity's love for God, so they find every way to push people into sin to displease God. God the Father wants people to be awake: to walk on the only path that is to practice the laws of God that have been given to all ages. In the beginning, just as God gave the law, from now until the end of the world, people will also practice the law that God gave. That law is love and loyalty to God the Father, absolute obedience to Him; Do not let the world take advantage and tempt people to disobey the will of God the Father. But because humans are weak and commit sins that displease God the Father, God the Father saved humans by gradually introducing laws, from small things to big things. And until God the Father's work of salvation is completed, He wants humanity to obey Him absolutely: living according to the laws He teaches, and above all that law is the law of love.
All the laws that God the Father has given to humanity under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit are the laws of love, which is to worship one God the Father and love our fellow human beings as ourselves. Practice that important law, and then all the laws that God the Father has given gradually, from small laws to great laws. We will be able to practice what God the Father teaches. Because He has said that all the laws that He has commanded must be practiced, not one jot or one letter will change. And Jesus Christ Himself came to earth to fulfill those laws from God the Father, which is the law of love. To love as the image of God loves people is to sacrifice one's own life for the person one loves.
Thanks be to God. Amen
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