Reading 1, First Kings 18:20-39
20Â Ahab called all Israel together and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
21 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 Yahweh is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.’ But the people had nothing to say.
22 Elijah then said to them, ‘I, I alone, am left as a prophet of Yahweh, while the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty.
23Â Let two bulls be given us; let them choose one for themselves, dismember it but not set fire to it. I in my turn shall prepare the other bull, but not set fire to it.
24 You must call on the name of your god, and I shall call on the name of Yahweh; the god who answers with fire, is God indeed.’ The people all answered, ‘Agreed!’
25 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.’
26Â 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 which they had made.
27 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 needs to be woken up!’
28Â So they shouted louder and gashed themselves, as their custom was, with swords and spears until the blood flowed down them.
29 Midday passed, and they ranted on until the time when the offering is presented; but there was no voice, no answer, no sign of attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come over to me,’ and all the people came over to him. He repaired Yahweh’s altar which had been torn down.
31 Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh had come, ‘Israel is to be your name,’
32Â and built an altar in the name of Yahweh. Round the altar he dug a trench of a size to hold two measures of seed.
33Â He then arranged the wood, dismembered the bull, and laid it on the wood.
34Â Then he said, ‘Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.’ They did this. 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.
35Â The water flowed round the altar until even the trench itself was full of water.
36 At the time when the offering is presented, Elijah the prophet stepped forward. ‘Yahweh, 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.
37 Answer me, Yahweh, answer me, so that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God and are winning back their hearts.’
38Â Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and licked up the water in the trench.
39Â When all the people saw this they fell on their faces. ‘Yahweh is God,’ they cried, ‘Yahweh is God!’
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 16:1-2, 4, 5, 8, 11
1Â [In a quiet voice Of David] Protect me, O God, in you is my refuge.
2 To Yahweh I say, ‘You are my Lord, my happiness is in none
4Â People flock to their teeming idols. Never shall I pour libations to them! Never take their names on my lips.
5 My birthright, my cup is Yahweh; you, you alone, hold my lot secure.
8 I keep Yahweh before me always, for with him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.
11 You will teach me the path of life, unbounded joy in your presence, at your right-hand delight for ever.
Gospel, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
1 ‘Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise, you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.
2 So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
3 But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing;
4 your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
5 ‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
6 But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
16 ‘When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
17Â But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face,
18 so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
