In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.
This may be the most common prayer said by Catholics throughout time. It is a prayer that begins and ends all other prayers we may say throughout the day. It is the complete and full acknowledgment of the Trinitarian love of God. It is a prayer of blessing we offer to each other over and over again.
Why am I talking about the Sign of the Cross? This Sunday we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. And this is an important blessing within our faith and our understanding of who God is in our lives and how he desires to be in communion with his creation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior’s grace which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father. The sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties.” (#2157)
We can often see sports athletes make the Sign of the Cross. Many soccer players make this sign as they enter the game and baseball players often will make the sign before an at-bat. It is a reminder that these players aren’t making the Sign of the Cross to not swing at a ball outside the strike zone or to score a goal. They are making the sign as an offering to the glory of God. I remember many years ago in an interview a player was asked by a reporter why he made the Sign of the Cross? The player simply responded, “It was an act of thanksgiving. Thanking God for the gift of being able to play a game he loved so much.” He added, “While he never asked God to help him get a hit. He did ask God to help him do his very best.”
This of course is a wonderful and perfect answer. We make the Sign of the Cross as an act of thanksgiving in seeking to do the will of God in our lives, as we seek to allow God to fully participate in our lives. But this isn’t always what happens.
I like so many Catholics can fall into the hand wave habit of the signing of myself. I watch in fascination at times to the quick wave of the hand, the abbreviated motion, the half finished and other forms of the Sign of the Cross that happens at Mass, meals, meetings, in the street or wherever else Catholics pray. It can become, like many memorized prayers, a rote habit that looses all meaning and we fail to appreciate the power of the Cross in our lives. The Sign of the Cross is a mark of our faith and a tool to help us remember the presence of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our lives.
We are called to remember through this simplest of prayers how the Most Holy Trinity calls us into a relationship of love which they model. Jesus throughout the Gospels reminds us, his disciples, of how he and the Father are one and how he will send the Holy Spirit upon us to unite us as one with the Father. This is a promise we remember and hope to fulfill each time we make the Sign of the Cross.
My challenge for all of this week is each time we “cross” ourselves we do so intentionally recalling he words and the great mystery we profess. Trusting that this simple prayer surrounds and protects us from “all temptations and difficulties”
God bless
Fr. Mark

ps…don’t forget to click the link to support the Clean Shave for a Clean Start campaign….I thank you for your support.In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.

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