Today’s gospel account is so very instructive, yes, for all the disciples of the Lord Jesus, but especially for us, the successors of the Twelve Apostles. Did not what Jesus did then also occur in each one of our lives? “Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him.”

Jesus “summoned those whom he wanted…” In this decisive action, we realize that He chose those whom He really desired. It was His choice not theirs, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…” (John 15:16a). Yes, each one of us was chosen at Baptism, and again at Confirmation, but in a very specific and intentional manner, each one of us was chosen — that is, “summoned” at both priestly ordination and, in the context of today’s gospel, episcopal ordination. After all, we are as bishops successors of the Apostles whom Jesus Christ summoned and appointed as today’s Gospel reminds us.

Yes, Jesus summoned “and they came to him.” His was the invitation: “He summoned” and theirs was the response: “they came to him.” Do you and I recall what we said at our episcopal ordination when we each responded “I do” to the questions which the principal consecrator put to us? We were in effect saying “Adsum— “Here am I, Lord, I come to do your will.” We were in effect coming to Him in personal surrender.

The Gospel account continues: “He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles.” Yes, He appointed those original twelve apostles, whose names we have just heard, as the leaders of the Church He was founding. “Apostle” means “the one sent in the name of another.” As bishops, as successors of the original twelve, we too are appointed as apostles. Do you and I recall the day when that appointment was made to us: the surprise, the wonderment, the anxiety, the willing obedience, the surrender, the inner peace?

For what was that original twelve appointed and for what is each one of us appointed? “That they might be with him and that he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”

“To be with Jesus” — to live in an ever-deepening union of intimacy and love with Jesus Christ! Every Christian must nurture and develop this life-giving relationship with Jesus, but especially each one of us bishops. To be with Jesus implies a prayerful union with Him daily as we listen to His Word during the Holy Mass and beyond, as we receive the Lord Jesus Himself in Holy Communion, as we turn to Him in humble trusting surrender to His Word and to His Will in every circumstance.

“To be sent forth” — every baptized person has heard and must respond to Jesus Himself Who gave the divine commission, “Go out and teach all nations…” (Mt. 28:19).

Nonetheless, we bishops are sent forth in the name of Christ Jesus to exercise our three-fold munera or functions as teachers, sanctifiers and shepherds. Yes, we teach and preach in union with our principal coworkers the priests.

We also are sent forth to sanctify. Therefore we celebrate the sacraments and pray the Liturgy of the Hours with renewed fervor and new zeal. We desire only that our people experience a true conversion of heart that unites them to the Heart of Jesus which overflows with mercy and love!

We are called to give our flock a shepherd’s care. Moreover, as Jesus said to the original Twelve Apostles, and now to us, you are sent forth “to have authority to drive out demons.” The presence of the Evil One is real. But you and I have authority: “authority to drive out demons.” We can and should call upon that power given to us at our ordination “to drive out demons.”

There it is: a practical yet profound dynamic of how a bishop lives out his discipleship, his belonging to God: “to be with Jesus” every day in specific and intentional ways and “to be sent forth in” to proclaim by word, and above all, by example, that Jesus Christ is Lord!

We find ourselves on the penultimate day before the conclusion of our “ad Limina” visit. We have already prayed with and for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. We have visited many dicasteries, seeking to enhance our episcopal ministry to serve the People of God.

On this penultimate day before the conclusion of our “ad Limina” visit, we are assembled here at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran: the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. This Basilica is the “omnium Urbis et orbis ecclesiarum Mater et Caput” — the Head and Mother of all the churches of the city and of the world! We are once again, “summoned…appointed” to be with him and to be sent “forth to preach and to have authority over demons.” We came to be strengthened in the faith by Saint Peter’s successor, Pope Benedict XVI. We leave with renewed fervor and a deepened commitment to be with Jesus and to be sent forth in His name — for the glory of God and the salvation of the world!