Cross That Bridge When We Get There

Is the sign of the cross simply the intro and outro of prayer? Or, is it something more than that? Jeff Cavins discusses the importance of the sign of the cross and explains how it is, in fact, a powerful prayer. By looking through both the Old and New Testament, Jeff helps provide a deeper understanding of what it means to pray in the name of God.

Snippet from the Show
Through the sign of the cross, we acknowledge God's presence, affirm that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and identify ourselves as belonging to God.

Great heroes throughout salvation history called on the name of the Lord.

Seth - Gen 4:26
To Seth, also, a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time, men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

Abraham - Gen 12:8, 13:4
Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
Abraham journeyed “to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Isaac - Gen 26:25
So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there, Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 786

Finally, the People of God shares in the royal office of Christ. He exercises his kingship by drawing all men to himself through his death and Resurrection. Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." For the Christian, "to reign is to serve him," particularly when serving "the poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder." The People of God fulfills its royal dignity by a life in keeping with its vocation to serve with Christ.

The sign of the cross makes kings of all those reborn in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit consecrates them as priests, so that, apart from the particular service of our ministry, all spiritual and rational Christians are recognized as members of this royal race and sharers in Christ's priestly office. What, indeed, is as royal for a soul as to govern the body in obedience to God?

Other Scripture Quotations

“Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name” (Psalm 91:14).

“Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9).

In Jesus’ Name

• Sick are healed – Mk 16:17-18
• Sinners find mercy – Luke 24:47
• Demonic powers dealt with – Luke 10:17
• Jesus tells us that he responds to all who call on his name: “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do” (Jn 14:13, 15:16; 16:23, 26-27).