19 January 1987
Maikodai, Japan

My dear Sisters,

How do you explain to people who know nothing about Christianity, the meaning of our crucifixes, such as the large one that hangs over this sanctuary? Would you begin by saying that the Man Who is hanging on the cross was learning the meaning of obedience? I hardly think so. Yet that is what the author of today's first reading states. "Christ learned obedience through what He suffered." (Heb 5:8). Yes, although He was God, He came to a new knowledge of the meaning of obedience through what He suffered on the cross. It is a very daring thing to say, yet that is what God tells us through the word which He addresses to us this morning.

It is remarkable that, when St. Paul reflects on all that happened in the life of Jesus Christ, his greatest wonder and admiration are reserved, not so much for the miracles Our Lord did, but for the humility and obedience which He showed during His life and particularly in His sufferings and death. We all know what St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians. Jesus, although He was God, humbled Himself to become human, and He was obedient all His life and was obedient until He died, even when His death was the humiliating one of execution on a cross. (cf. Phil 2:8).

Sisters, our vocation is not only to serve the poor, but also we are invited by God to be like Our Lord, through the experience of being obedient until our deaths. We, like Our Lord, must learn obedience, and that at times will cause us suffering.

However, it is our obedience that will make our work for the needy and the poor fruitful. The author of the letter to the Hebrews says that, because Our Lord was obedient, "He became the source of eternal salvation" (Heb 5:9) for others. So, too, with us: if we are truly obedient, our lives, wherever they are lived, will be a source of joy and peace to others.

I often think of Pope John XXIII. When he was appointed bishop, he took as his motto: "Obedience and Peace." It was an extraordinary choice for a bishop. Then the Pope sent him as Nuncio to Bulgaria where there were very few Catholics. Archbishop Roncalli, as he then was, had not much work to do, and the Pope left him there for ten years. He tells us in his writings that he was tempted many times to ask for a change, but that he always decided not to do so, after he had meditated on his motto, "Obedience and Peace." Because Archbishop Roncalli "learned obedience through what he suffered," (Heb 5:8) he would later become a source of joy, peace and confidence, not only to the Church, but to millions of other people who do not share our faith.