Why do we make the Sign of the Cross?

Why do Catholics make the Sign of the Cross as we enter and leave the church?

It’s such a simple gesture, one we often accomplish without thinking about it, yet crossing ourselves as we enter and leave the church is a powerful symbolic reminder of the identity the Spirit calls us to live as members of the Body of Christ. 

We are first marked by the Sign of the Cross at baptism, as a reminder that we are called to live our life for and in Christ.  Transformed by water and by the Holy Spirit, in baptism we become one with Christ, joining our body to the head that is Jesus.

When we enter the church, then, we dip our finger into the holy water font and make the Sign of the Cross ourselves, so that we might each remember what calls us together, namely, our communal participation in the sacrifice of the Mass, the Eucharist, that is at the core of our identity as Christians.  It is like our creed:  we are joined as one body by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And when we leave?  We dip our finger again, of course, but this time so that we might remember what we are called by the Spirit to be as we go forth:  a source of life-giving water, a revelation to others of the gift that is God’s love... 

Photo source