Elijah, the prophet of the Lord, directly confronted the prophets of the pagan god Baal. Over 400 prophets of Baal went into a frenzy of activity trying to get Baal to rain down fire upon their altar and consume their bull, but nothing happened.

Elijah patiently and precisely repaired the altar of the Lord. He even poured many jars of water over the wood and the sacrifice. He asked the Lord to reveal that the Lord was the only God. Fire fell and consumed everything, including the water, causing the people to recognise that the Lord was the only God. We recognise the presence of God by the effect God has on our lives.

This passage from Matthew follows the Beatitudes, where Jesus shared how to live a holy life. In today's Gospel, Jesus assured the people that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfil them.

We often think of the Hebrew law as being restric-tive, but if we look carefully at the laws given in the Old Testament, we will realise that they are based on the common good. So, Jesus was saying that we need to place the common good before our own desires. When we place God and others first, that is living a holy life.