A Message From Our Pastor

04-30-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Mike Straley

Howdy,

Many of us sometimes make the sign of the cross so often that we sometimes do not think about it. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in his book, Spirit of the Liturgy, commented on the importance of the common gesture:

“The most basic Christian gesture in prayer is and always will be the sign of the Cross. It is a way of confessing Christ crucified with one’s very body...To seal oneself with the sign of the Cross is a visible and public Yes to him who suffered of us; to him who in the body has made God visible, even to the utmost; To the God who reigns not by destruction but by the humility of suffering and love, which is stronger than all the power of the world and wiser than all the calculating intelligence of men. The sign of the Cross is a confession of faith: I believe in him who suffered for me and rose again; in him who has transformed the sign of shame into a sign of hope and of the love of God that is present with us. The confession of faith is a confession of hope: I believe in him who in his weakness is the Almighty; in him who can will save me even in apparent absence and impotence. By signing ourselves with the Cross, we place ourselves under the protection of the Cross, hold it in front of us like a shield that will guard us in all the distress of daily life and give us the courage to go on...The Cross shows us the road of life– the imitation of Christ.”

Good meditation material,

Fr. Mike