That sign on our bodies
In the Rite of Infant Baptism, the first gesture made over the child is a symbolic signing on the forehead—it is made not only by the presiding priest but also by the parents and godparents of the child. The sign is the tracing of the cross, and begins not only the Liturgy of Baptism with its immersion into the life-giving water of eternal salvation, but also the immersion of the infant into the image and likeness of the Christ's cross. This first signing opens the way to Catholic life, discipleship, devotion and liturgy.
Taught from the first moments of baptismal life, the sign of the cross begins every liturgical celebration; it is a common action, made with or without baptismal water, always a bodily symbolic gesture reminding us of our truest, deepest identity as children, brothers and sisters in the great big family of God. It is a most powerful action, which embraces the things of God and wards off the powers of darkness. At the doors of our churches stands the reminder of the signing of the cross in baptism, a signing stoop or a bowl of water, into which on entering the church building we dip our hands and do the little ritual of signing ourselves, in order to say I am here, ready to claim my identity with the others who gather with me in this place, ready to be part once more of the worshipping assembly, ready to renew my immersion into Christ. Traditionally, though alas rarely seen now, there was a water stoop at the door of Catholic households inviting the making of the sign of the cross for protection and sanctity when leaving home, and for family love and peace when coming home again.
Of course, we can make the sign by habit, and the words In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit can be superficial and forgetful of the grandeur of the God who meets us whenever we open our lips to pray, or touch our bodies with this holy gesture expressed in the movement of our right hand. Yet, as in the Sacraments, where there is even a spark of faith, God responds, acts and effects his grace. The cross is traced on our bodies, and it become the heart that beats in our life; thus the cross not only towers above us in our liturgy but marks us in our daily life, it becomes the force that animates our choices, it gives us a wisdom to cope with the folly of this world, it provides a way of seeing reality so that we can construct authentic personal relationships, it becomes the light of God through which our whole life and destiny becomes illumined. Above all, the daily making of the sign of the cross on our bodies while invoking the Trinity expresses our desire to grow in a relationship of love with the Father, Son and Spirit, the dynamic life of God made present most powerfully in the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ.
The sign made by our hands signifies the light that the Spirit has already impressed on our beings giving us that new heart of flesh dreamed of by the ancient prophets. From the perspective of the cross we can see the world with the heart and eyes of Christ, and can rejoice in the divine intimacy which is the unique source of meaning for our lives. Parents and godparents, when they trace the sign of the cross on the forehead of the child to be baptised take on the responsibility of educating the child in the ways of the crucified and risen Jesus so that the life of their child can be a continuing expression of the way of Jesus.
So, the sign of the cross is the beginning of true life, the beginning of our own our own ascension toward the fullness of glory, our part in the paschal mystery of Jesus which we will live in fullness in the Kingdom of heaven. Until that fullness comes, we continue to follow the Lamb wherever he may lead us, for the Lamb is now our Shepherd and we have been washed in the blood of his wounds.
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