Apostolic Succession, A Succession to Mission

Homily of His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle,

Pro-Prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization

Ordination to the Sacred Order of the Episcopate of H.E, Most Rev. Samuel Naceno Agcaracar, SVD, D.D., Bishop-Elect of the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija

January 17, 2026 | Holy Spirit Chapel, Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City

photos from Diocese of San Jose Nueva Ecija Facebook page

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

We thank and praise God who has gathered us as a Church, as a community of faith, at this Eucharistic celebration, within which we are already participating in the Ordination to the Episcopacy, the Episcopal Ministry of Reverend Father Samuel Naceno Agcaracar, SVD. He is here. Salamat dumating ka. He could have escaped.

He is the bishop-elect of the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija. So, we join the faithful, the clergy, the religious, women and men of the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija in welcoming our new bishop. We also congratulate the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), and we thank the society for its generosity.

Today's celebration is not only a local event. It is not just an event of San Jose, Nueva Ecija nor of Tagaytay; but it is also one that involves the whole Church, the Universal Church.

Many are asking, “What is a bishop?” We bishops are also asking the same question, “What are we?” So, what type of person or creature is a bishop? What is the ministry of a bishop in a diocese, in a particular church, and in the communion called the Universal Church? What will happen to Father Sam, from “father” to “bishop”? What will happen to him? What will happen to the Diocese of San Jose? What will happen to the whole Church because of a Bishop Sam?

This homily is not the proper venue to explain everything. Otherwise, we will end next year. The readings chosen especially for this ordination will indicate for us some important points, maybe dear to Father Sam, which are also important for us. I have three points.

From Discipleship to Apostleship

First, according to the Gospel, which is the conclusion of the Gospel of Saint Matthew (28:16-20), the eleven disciples (wala na yung isa), or apostles “went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them” (Mt. 29:16). Now, we remember that the risen Lord had instructed Mary Magdalene (Matthew 28:10) to tell His disciples to go to Galilee, where they will see the risen Lord.

Galilee. Not the best place. Galilee, they call it the place of the hidden, the Gentiles. It was even considered a place of impure people. The Lord called them in Galilee, and now He wants to meet them again in Galilee. On that mountain, from that mountain, Jesus told them to “Go and make disciples of all the nations” (Mt. 28:19). The disciples are sent. They are told to go and with specific instructions (that we will listen to later). They are being told to go. Jesus entrusts to them a mission. That's why they are called “apostles”. Apostles are people who are “sent”. Disciples are called to be with Jesus, in order to be sent. They spent time with Jesus, they learned from Jesus, so that one day they could be sent. Every disciple must be an apostle. In the same way that every apostle should be a disciple. Living this beautiful and dynamic tension between being with Jesus, remaining with Jesus, and being sent by Jesus. You remain by going, and you go, still remaining with Jesus.

According to the teachings of Vatican II, especially in Lumen Gentium #20, “The divine mission, entrusted by Christ to the apostles, will last until the end of time.” For this reason, the apostles took care to appoint successors, whom we call bishops. Bishops succeed the apostolic mission. So, we can say that from one perspective, apostolic succession is succession to mission. […]

So, brothers and sisters, the Episcopal Office, the office of a bishop is not just what people say, “Oh, it's an honor.” “It is a reward for good performance.” “It is a promotion to a higher or more prestigious rank.”

My dear brothers and sisters, it is a mission. It is a mission that succeeds through the mission that Jesus had entrusted to the apostles. It is a mission that must endure until the end of time. 

Now, I go to the second point.

The All-Encompassing Power of Jesus

In sending the apostles, the disciples-apostles, Jesus premised descending by saying, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore…” (Mt. 28:18-19a). So, it is by the power of Jesus that He does the sending of His apostles. The power of Jesus is unique. It's all embracing, all encompassing. It cannot be repeated by anyone. It cannot be replaced.

Saint Paul's Letter to the Colossians in the Second Reading (Col 1:15-20) encapsulises the power of Jesus. He is the divine person who is “the image of the invisible God.” All were created, and all continue to exist through Him, in Him, and for Him. Jesus holds everything together. He, who existed from all eternity, is also the firstborn from the dead, his power over sin and death and all creation finds fullness in Him. All things are reconciled in Him. Jesus' power creates all and recreates all.

Now this authority and power of Jesus have created and recreated weak, inconsistent, and doubting Galileans. No teacher could have chosen the disciples of Jesus to get enrolled in their schools. (Sino ba naman ang tatanggap sa isang Pedro, sa isang Andres, sa isang Santiago at Juan bilang estudyante? Hindi sila papasa sa standards. Kapag tinanggap yan, magsasara agad ang eskwelahan mo. kaya ang sabi ni Jesus, “I chose you. kasi walang ibang pipili sa inyo.”)

It is this power of Jesus that is able to create out of this inconsistent, weak, and even at the last moment, doubting Galileans. Such a power to recreate them into disciples and missionaries. It is the power of Jesus that transforms a farmer from Claveria, [Province of] Cagayan into a bishop.

The apostles and bishops must always act at the service of Jesus' authority. We are servants, ministers. So, we serve the authority of Jesus. We are not called to supplant the authority of Jesus. We are not called to compete with the authority of Jesus, but to make the authority of Jesus shine and be more effective.

I think this is the reason why Saint Paul can say in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, “I will boast of all my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. For Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For where I am weak, then I am strong” (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10). Strong in the power of Jesus.

Father Sam, embracing your weakness will not diminish your episcopal mission and authority. In fact, it will enhance it. If you allow Jesus' power to work its wonders, and keep you in communion with your many weak brothers and sisters. The bishop, who cannot empathize with the weakness of others, usurps the authority of Jesus.

You, even after your episcopal ordination, will remain as fragile as the Earth, as the vegetables in the farm, as the passion fruit that gives us really passion, the water soars, with them, you will remain fragile; and you need the authority over heaven and earth that comes from Jesus, the great farmer and creator.

A Church of All the Nations 

Finally, the apostles and their successors, the bishops, will not go simply to engage in a tour. Jesus' authoritative sending was very clear. They should “Go…make disciples”, students and followers of Jesus of all the nations, teaching them Jesus' words and commands.

So, not coming from just one nation, or from a preferred ethnic group, or only from one tribe, or from a social class that is chosen or pre-chosen, but to all. The Gospel must be taught. The person of Jesus must shine forth through the ministry of the apostles and the bishops, for all. So, the bishop works with all the clergy, the laity, the religious, the poor, the neglected, the despised, sinners, people of all ranks, and all nations. We are grateful. From the beginning of this celebration, we have been given already some windows and doors to the diversity of cultures and nations.

Jesus' authority comes covers all of creation, and so His disciples must go to all of creation, so that all His disciples will come also from all the nations; and together they will be a sign and instrument of the communion of all the peoples, and of reconciled humanity. We need that badly. Look at how divided humanity is. Look at how divided even the Church is.

Part of this mission is to baptize the disciples “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So, through their testimony and teaching about Jesus, the Apostles and their successors should sacramentally immerse disciples. Yes, in water, but that immersion is an immersion in the love of the Father. So that they all arise as sons and daughters of God. They are immersed in the love of the Son, and they arise as brothers and sisters of the Son. They are immersed in the love of the Holy Spirit, and they arise living stones of the Temple of the Spirit. The Church of all the nations as “a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Lumen Gentium #4).

Fac Nos Omnes Unum In Eo

Saint Arnold Janssen, the founder of the Society of the Divine Word, considered the Church's mission and that of the society, the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, both the active and the contemplative, as living a Trinity's life for the communion of Father, Son, and Spirit is present in the world and in history, and must motivate mission. The heart of Jesus is a heart of communion. It is the seat of the authority of communion. This is central to Saint Arnold Janssen. “May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all”, that's part of his prayer. “Fac Nos Omnes Unum In Eo,” (Make Us All One in Him). Bishop Sam’s episcopal motto.

So, the bishop is a visible sign of the Trinitarian communion present in the Church, in the local Church. Through Him, his local Church is also linked in communion with the other churches in what we call the Universal Church. Tama ang iyong motto. Isabuhay mo yan ha, Father Sam?

The Prophet Samuel and Bishop Samuel

You bear the name of the Prophet, Priest, and Judge Samuel, that provided the transition to the period of the kings. His mother was Anna, who was barren. She was sterile. She could not produce life. She could not have a child. She prayed fervently. Especially in Shiloh. In fact, the priest Eli thought she was a drunkard, but she was a pious woman who was in touch with her barrenness, the desert of her life. She turned to God. She pleaded with God through tears. When she bore a son, she dedicated him to the service of God. She brought Samuel to Eli (1 Samuel 1:1-28). Samuel, a name that means “God has faced,” “God has set.” God has placed this child in my barren womb. My barrenness would not have produced him. It was God who placed him here.

At that time, they said, the Word of God was rare, prophecies were rare, visions were rare (1 Sm. 3:1). The time was also barren, but Samuel heard the word of God. It was not barren anymore. With Eli's guidance, he finally responded, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening” (1 Sm. 3:2-10). 

San Jose, the patron of the diocese, also heard, listened and acted on the word of God at the desert moment in his life (Mt. 1:18-25). Mary, also troubled, confused, listened, believed, and acted on God's word (Lk. 1:26-38).

Father Sam, there will be many barren moments in your episcopal ministry. I don't want to hide that. There will be times when you don't know whether your word is understood, or whether your efforts are good; and you wait and wait and wait, and you don't see the fruits. When those moments come, then you are truly “Samuel”.

Calm down. Pray. Go to where Hannah went: the Shiloh. Listen, and then go. There's one consolation, the Risen Lord said, “I will be with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20); and that is enough water for your ministry.