The Lord has a big job to do, and He wants us to work for Him (Mt 9:37-38). Our job is to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and that He is the King of that kingdom (Mt 10:7). To give us credibility as we speak out for Him, the Lord gave to His Church and to us its members "authority to expel unclean spirits and to cure sickness and disease of every kind" (Mt 10:1). Other tasks in our job description are the following:

• What Jesus says to us in the darkness, we are to "speak in the light" (Mt 10:27).
• What we hear whispered, we should fearlessly "proclaim from the housetops" (Mt 10:27).
• We must acknowledge Jesus publicly (Mt 10:32) and not deny Him by being ashamed of the gospel (Rm 1:16).

Clearly, our job is to speak up for Jesus. We are saved by faith (Eph 2:8), and faith comes through hearing (Rm 10:17). But how can people hear the good news of Jesus unless we speak? (see Rm 10:14)

Because speaking of Jesus is so crucial, the devil opposes this vehemently. For instance, people who are otherwise so loquacious can't seem to get the name "Jesus" out of their mouths. Many fathers rarely if ever talk to their children about Jesus. For years, many workers don't get a word out about Jesus to their fellow workers. Does the devil have our tongues? We speak out of the abundance of our hearts (Lk 6:45). May the love in our hearts break our damning silence about Jesus.

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 20, 2004

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