Tuesday July 8, 2025

Matthew 9:32-37

A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said.

What is your biggest fear? Did you know that public speaking and fear of spiders rank among the top fears in America? I was asked this question about my biggest fear when I was entering seminary here in the Archdiocese of Louisville. Without missing a beat I said, LIONS!! I can’t stand those!! The psychologist laughed and he said he had never received such an answer in all his years. Guess I was the first African he had interviewed. Americans fear things such as getting old, speaking, being alone, getting out of shape etc etc different places, different fears.

Anyway in the scriptures Our Lord casts out the dumb spirit. He frees the tongue to speak. This is a freeing of someone to proclaim the good news. You have a beautiful expression in English…. Tongue tight. Do you become tongue tight when it comes to sharing your faith, sharing the good news? Today our Lord casts that spirit out that you may sing the song of your life in your own unique way.

Mahalo