What Are You Doing?
- Lo Palm
- Aug 9
- 2 min read
I was listening to one of my priest friends begin a prayer with the Sign of the Cross once- he said it kind of like “IN THE NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” with the emphasis on the “in the name of,” and it just kind of struck me... how often do I say or make the Sign of the Cross so mindlessly... do I honestly ever think about what it means? What does it mean?
Well, for starters, it means just that... that we are about to do or say something “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”... how cool! What a neat and powerful thing when we stop and think about it… honestly, while this is traditionally associated with Catholics, whether you’re Catholic or not, it would probably be pretty powerful if we said this mini prayer before everything we did throughout the day... “I’m going to respond to someone with love in the name of the Father… I’m going to pause and give thanksgiving in the name of the Father… I’m going to vacuum these carpets in the name of the Father…” why not offer it all to our God?!
Did you know there are records saying that this “signing of the Cross” actually stems from the apostles themselves and that it was administered during baptisms?
There is a cool book called “Sign of the Cross: Recovering the Power of the Ancient Prayer” and in it the author discusses how the Sign of the Cross has 6 important meanings. Take a second to reflect on each one and what it means to you...
The Sign of the Cross is a confession of faith
The Sign of the Cross is a renewal of baptism
The Sign of the Cross is a mark of discipleship
The Sign of the Cross is an acceptance of suffering
The Sign of the Cross is a defense against the devil
The Sign of the Cross is a victory over self-indulgence
Wow! That really is quite loaded. Did you know that just by saying those few words before and after a prayer or making the Sign with our hand- we are saying ALL of that?!
Each time you make the Sign of the Cross today, I challenge you to really think about the words you’re saying. Think about the meaning of the mark you are making on yourself.
IN THE NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
