Ah… You Must Be Catholic – And Those Who Have Gone Before | Ah… You Must Be Catholic

Ah… You must be Catholic – And Those Who Have Gone Before

I recently went to Phoenix, AZ, to sing for an EWTN-televised Healing Mass through the Order of Malta. A dear friend picked me up at the airport, and we ate a beautiful breakfast at a well-known local spot. As usual, when the food came, my friend and I made the Sign of the Cross and prayed a simple grace. When the server came by to fill our coffee cups, she told us, “Ah… You must be Catholic,” then said that she was raised Catholic but didn’t “really go that often anymore.”

How did she know my friend and I were Catholic?

We made the Sign of the Cross before we ate.

So, when did Catholics begin to make the Sign of the Cross? The Sign of the Cross is almost as old as our religion itself. At first, it was a small cross—made with the right thumb—on a person’s forehead with the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” The same formula is given to us in Matthew 28: 19 when Jesus told His disciples, “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit…” By around the year 200, making the Sign of the Cross was common among the followers of Jesus and spread to all communities. By the time of Trajan and his persecution of Christians (98-117 A.D.), the Sign of the Cross was made over the body. It was many times the last earthly sign they gave before being martyred.

So Why Do We Do It?

Making the sign of the cross is called a “sacramental” or a sacred symbol that bears the sign of a sacrament. In other words, it brings our minds and actions together to think about, refer to, consider, or pay a slight homage to the members of the Holy Trinity. As in the Old Testament, those blessed were “sealed” with holy oil and laying on of hands. Today, we bless ourselves in the Trinity’s Name whenever we make the Sign of the Cross over ourselves.

By “Crossing” ourselves, we are doing three things:

We gather our mind, body, and being and give an outward sign that “Yes, we agree and witness the Trinity.”
We are (in a form) blessing ourselves. And, if done with holy water, we are renewing a minor form of our Baptism.
And, we are proclaiming to the broader world that, “Yes, I am a follower of He who died upon the instrument of Roman torture and would willingly follow in His footsteps.”

Albeit a bit dramatic, today, we in the United States don’t typically face the third point. But in other countries around the world, people are still dying for belief in Jesus. Just last Easter in Nigeria, an armed militia stormed into a Mass. They gave one chance for people to leave and told them to deny their religion publicly, then walk away. If not, they would be shot. As reported by a single survivor left only to tell the gruesome story, “No one left. We all made the Sign of the Cross, and by the time our fingers touched our right shoulders, over half of us were lying on the ground, bleeding to death.”

Public Domain — Crossing ourselves in public is a sign of who and what we are. Are you too shy or self-conscious to tell others who you really are?

The “Witnesses”

To date, there have been 377 confirmed Catholics who have died for their Faith in the 21^st century. Let me say that again. There have been 377 confirmed Catholics who have died for their Faith in the 21^st century. These are people, just like you and me, who have been at Mass or spoken out in their countries against inhumanity or would not relent to the local religious zealot’s wishes. Most are good and faithful priests, sisters, and deacons. But many are just regular laypeople like you and me.

Here are just a few names:

Annalena Tonelli
Leonella Sgorbati
Luigi Padovese
Rufus Halley
The 58 in St. Francis Xavier Church, Owo town, Nigeria.
Shahbaz Bhatti
Jim Brown
Ragheed Ganni
Jaques Hamel
The 61 killed in the Baghdad massacre in 2010.
Isaias Duarte Cancino
Paulos Faraj Rahho
The 16 missionaries of Charity attacked in Adan.
And 290 more…

So, as much as we all like to whip right through the hand motions, the next time you make the Sign of the Cross, please slow down and think of those who have gone before. What they believed is what you believe. What they professed is what you profess. Remember, it’s not just a symbol. As this year begins to wind down, remember, it’s a proclamation, “Ah… You must be Catholic.