Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 12th June, 2024
Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
FIRST READING
A reading from the First Book of Kings 18:20-39
May this people may know that you, the Lord, are God and are winning back their hearts.
King Ahab called all Israel together and assembled the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
Elijah stepped out in front of all the people.
‘How long’ he said ‘do you mean to hobble first on one leg then on the other?
If the Lord is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him’.
But the people never said a word. Elijah then said to them,
‘I, I alone, am left as a prophet of the Lord, while the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty.
Let two bulls be given us; let them choose one for themselves, dismember it and lay it on the wood, but not set fire to it. I in my turn will prepare the other bull, but not set fire to it. You must call on the name of your god, and I shall call on the name of mine; the god who answers with fire, is God indeed.’
The people all answered, ‘Agreed!‘
Elijah then said to the prophets of Baal,
‘Choose one bull and begin, for there are more of you. Call on the name of your god but light no fire.’
They took the bull and prepared it, and from morning to midday they called on the name of Baal.
‘O Baal, answer us!‘ they cried, but there was no voice, no answer, as they performed their hobbling dance round the altar they had made. Midday came, and Elijah mocked them.
‘Call louder,’ he said ‘for he is a god: he is preoccupied or he is busy, or he has gone on a journey; perhaps he is asleep and will wake up.’
So they shouted louder and gashed themselves, as their custom was, with swords and spears until the blood flowed down them. Midday passed, and they ranted on until the time the offering is presented; but there was no voice, no answer, no attention given to them.
Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come closer to me’, and all the people came closer to him.
He repaired the altar of the Lord which had been broken down. Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come,
‘Israel shall be your name‘,
and built an altar in the name of the Lord. Round the altar he dug a trench of a size to hold two measures of seed. He then arranged the wood, dismembered the bull, and laid it on the wood. Then he said,
‘Fill four jars with water and pour it on the holocaust and on the wood’; this they did. He said,
‘Do it a second time‘; they did it a second time. He said, ‘Do it a third time‘; they did it a third time.
The water flowed round the altar and the trench itself was full of water. At the time when the offering is presented, Elijah the prophet stepped forward.
‘Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel,’ he said ‘let them know today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, that I have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, the Lord, are God and are winning back their hearts.’
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the holocaust and wood and licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this they fell on their faces.
‘The Lord is God,‘ they cried ‘the Lord is God.’
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 15
Response Save me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
1. Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.’ Response
2. Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood.
Never will I take their name upon my lips. Response
3. O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm. Response
4. You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 27
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way of your precepts, and I will muse on your wonders.
Alleluia!
Or Ps 24: 4.5
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God, make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:17-19 Glory to you, O Lord
I have come not to abolish but to complete them.
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.
Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Wednesday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus was a Jew and he appreciated all that was good and valuable in his own religious tradition. That is why he says in today’s gospel reading, ‘I have come not to abolish (the Law or the Prophets) but to complete them’. He wanted to take what was good in his own religious tradition and lift it up to an even higher level. In his teaching, he interpreted the Jewish Law in a way that made clearer what God was saying through the Law. As someone who was closer to God than any human being who ever lived, Jesus was able to show what really mattered most to God in the Jewish Law, namely, love of God and love of neighbour, the hunger and thirst for God’s justice, and mercy towards all in need.
That is why we, as followers of the risen Lord, read the Jewish Scriptures, the Law, the prophets and the writings, in the light of all that Jesus said and did. Indeed, we try to read, to interpret, the whole of life in the light that Jesus has given us. The great spiritual writer, C.S. Lewis, wrote, ‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else’. Our calling is to see everything in the light of the Lord’s presence which shines through his Word, the Sacraments, and the community of believers.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
