Begin in God’s Name and the Sign of the Cross

A good example of praying with your body comes next: the Sign of the Cross. Traditionally Christians make the sign when we invoke the name of the Trinity. In the West we go up, down, left, right. In the Orthodox East they go up, down, right, left. 

Making this physical prayer, this gesture, your body is  saying: ‘Yes, I take the cross of Christ and make it my own. Yes, amen, My body is a part of His Body’. We take His death and resurrection, the mystery into which we were baptized and say ‘yes, I am part of this story’. 

Perhaps you’ve never done that before. Give it a go, let your body pray as well as your conscious mind.

And as we make that sign we say that everything we do from here on in is done in the name of the Trinity. Names are powerful. In ancient times, and in theological terms, names are not just labels or a means of talking about something or someone. The name is itself the presence and essence of the person or thing. 

That’s why Jews traditionally don’t speak the Name of God, because it is so powerful and holy. Jesus’ name is given him by an angel (Lk 1.31), so is St John the Baptist’s (Lk 1.13). The name of God is written on the foreheads of the redeemed in Revelation (Rev. 14.1). 

Names are powerful, we begin our worship, and the week ahead in God’s Holy Name. We pray through the Name of Jesus (Jn 14.13-14). God’s name is God’s power (Psalm 83.18). 

Try it now. Make the Sign of the Cross and pray:

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.