There once was an important football game between two teams. One team was much larger than the other. The larger team was dominating the game and beating the smaller team. The coach for the smaller team was not able to contain or block the larger team. So his only hope was to call the plays that went to Calhoun, the fastest back in the area, who could easily outrun the larger players once he broke free.

The coach talked with his quarterback about giving the ball to Calhoun and letting him run with it. The first play the coach was excited, but Calhoun did not get the ball. The second play was again signaled for Calhoun, but once again Calhoun did not get the ball. Now the game was in the final seconds with the smaller team’s only hope being for Calhoun to break free and score the winning touchdown. The third play and again Calhoun did not get the ball. The coach was very upset so he sent in the play again for the fourth and final play. The ball was snapped and the quarterback was sacked, ending the game. The coach was furious as he confronted the quarterback: “I told you four times to give the ball to Calhoun and now we’ve lost the game.”

The quarterback stood tall and told the coach, “Four times I called the play to give the ball to Calhoun. The problem was that Calhoun did not want the ball.”

In our gospel reading today we have “coach” Jesus giving instructions to his team of Apostles. They are to fear no one—except the devil who could sabotage their plans. They are to be bold in proclaiming the message from the rooftops. They are always to acknowledge who Jesus is, and what his message can mean, to those to whom they go out on mission.

In recent years, we have come to appreciate that, if Jesus and his message are to spread and change our society, we cannot rely on the “professionals” alone—bishops, priests, deacons, or nuns. We have come to appreciate that all of us, by virtue of our baptism, are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

Testimonials we have from the early days of the Church show that the faith spread rapidly because followers of Jesus were actually living their faith so convincingly. The faith came to be caught, more than taught. The disciples, realizing that if life were to be better, if the poor were to be taken care of, and if love were to win out over hate, they all had to live the faith as if they meant it. They all had to live the faith as if they meant it.

Calhoun didn’t want the ball, and the game was lost. What about us? Do we want to play our part? Do we want to make a difference? Do we want life to be better than it is? Do we want a more caring and compassionate society? Then, we can’t be afraid to run with it, when the ball is placed in our hands.