Cross or Crucifix?

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Eruvande

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I’ve started wearing a crucifix - I was deeply drawn to it and can’t really articulate why. I know family and friends are going to start commenting on it, and I know also that it’s going to be along the lines of ‘Jesus isn’t on the cross any more, why are you putting Him there?’ (I know because that’s the sort of thing I used to say)

So how do I answer? Why do Catholics have Jesus on the cross when He is risen and no longer there?
 
Tell them that Jesus’ inestimable love for us is most evident by His dying for us on the Cross and that you always want to remember this great love of His as it was on that Good Friday afternoon, when men could finally be freed from their sins and the gates of heaven opened. God bless you.
 
I have received comments too, about my crucifix.

My reply is that it is constant reminder of the Christ’s eternal sacrifice for mankind.

He is risen, of that there is no doubt. But we should not overlook the sacrifice he made to get to his resurrection.
 
Sure, he rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. But that’s not what redeemed us. He redeemed us by dying on the cross. So no matter what, the cross is still a symbol of the suffering he went through for the world. It’s akin to if you wore a knife at all times. But it’s not a very direct reminder. By just showing an unadorned cross, we can become placid and forget about that suffering. The crucifix serves as a constant reminder of what Jesus went through for us.
 
Because an empty cross is just a couple of pieces of wood. It was the man that died on the cross that matters.

Saying that an empty cross is a sign of Christ’s resurrection begs the question. Why don’t we use folded cloths as signs of His resurrection?

Peace

Tim
 
Eruvande said:
I’ve started wearing a crucifix - I was deeply drawn to it and can’t really articulate why. I know family and friends are going to start commenting on it, and I know also that it’s going to be along the lines of ‘Jesus isn’t on the cross any more, why are you putting Him there?’ (I know because that’s the sort of thing I used to say)

So how do I answer? Why do Catholics have Jesus on the cross when He is risen and no longer there?
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🙂 God Bless You.

You could share some of the below words with them if you like 🙂 but most importantly I would just love to share them with you, so that you may be at peace when it comes to any mockery, insults or hardships that may come your way because of it.
Jesus to Catalina:
I Have Given My Life for You - loveandmercy.org/Eng-IHG-Reg.pdf

**4) My Passion contains everything that you need today and tomorrow and it works marvellous miracles on all those who forget the world and themselves, in order to think of Me.
  1. When everything is subordinated to My sufferings, to My Will, then My Passion brings great benefits to souls.
  2. In the world, many words, too many are uttered! But if greater reasoning about Me, especially about My sorrow, were introduced [into the world], My Love would soon enkindle flames in your souls…
  3. Yet I am deprived of this delight: the stirring of souls to unite their sufferings to Mine in order to attain comfort and strength, generosity and patience, all that which is lacking in men and women of these times.
  4. They remove Me from nations, from households, from schools and even from many Christian installations. They do not want to exalt Christ crucified; they prefer to show Me to new generations as Christ Resurrected… as if Tabor could be separated from Calvary!
  5. Many do not understand that those who love Me as Christ crucified and acknowledge My sufferings, will also love My Presence in the Eucharist.
  6. But those who are ignorant of My Passion, will be unlikely to believe in and to love My Eucharistic Presence, alive, among them… **
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“The Passion of Christ is sufficient to serve as a guide and model for our entire life. For all those who wish to lead a perfect life, they need do nothing more than to despise what Christ despised on the Cross, and to accept what Christ accepted. On the Cross, we find the example of every virtue.” - Saint Thomas Aquinas
Jesus to Catalina:
I Have Given My Life for You - loveandmercy.org/Eng-IHG-Reg.pdf

**4) I wish to speak to you again about My Passion because when I do so, I want to spread in your hearts feelings of union with Me, of compassion… to show you My Love.
  1. When I was led to Calvary, there was condensed in Me all suffering which I always experienced, while thinking about the wickedness of mankind that so greatly offended a Father who is so good. That offended Love was what made Me suffer most, piercing My Soul at every sigh, at every step which brought Me closer to the crucifixion.
  2. How I wish that mankind would cultivate greater devotion to My Passion! For that reason, I insist upon it, even though many “theologians” feel repulsion in their stomachs when they contemplate a statue representing Me weeping or bleeding.
  3. My Passion is a compendium of Holy Love and supernatural Wisdom itself. Everything can be found during My hours of the Passion: every evil in the world transformed into good for eternity, and all the supernatural goodness of present mankind, united to the promise of the good that they may attain if they die protected by My Passion.
  4. It is for that reason that time and time again I insist on it for those who gaze upon My crucified self, and I invite them to be with Me in order to relive the dreadful, bloody hours that led Me to sacrifice Myself.
  5. Those who do not meditate on My sufferings, who do not compare them with their own, do not extract from the treasure chest of My Passion, the treasures that I have stored up for each one of you.
  6. I assure you that those who meditate on My sorrowful Passion will derive many Graces, because it is a treasure chest of infinitely enormous benefits. By the same token, those who have paid no attention or have forgotten My sufferings will always find emptiness and spiritual poverty.
  7. My sufferings will always be the Glory of My Father and My Glory, as well as the greatest demonstration of the Spirit of Love for you on earth.
    …
  8. If you keep Me company while meditating on My Passion, I will make smooth your hardships, because as I have said, I always repay love with Love.**
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I hope this has helped you. 🙂

Thank you for reading
Josh
 
Thanks all - very helpful answers.
Orogeny said:
Because an empty cross is just a couple of pieces of wood. It was the man that died on the cross that matters.
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brilliant! I shall store that answer away for my husband especially 🙂
 
Both the “Resurrected Cross” or “Crucifix” are Catholic!

Eastern Catholics generally keep the Resurrected Cross
Western Catholics the Crucifix

They are both Catholic.

When your relatives as you absurd questions, ask them why they took our Cross, our Bible, and 85% of the True Faith but not the other 15%.
 
Catholics use crucifixes because they are a sign of Gods love for humanity, and also a symbol of victory, Jesus’ glorious victory over sin and death on the cross. Yes, Jesus was crucified but once, yet is God not eternal? Gods sacrifice extends through all of time.

TheSurvivor
God Bless!
 
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…
1 Corinthians 1:23
 
Orogeny said:
Because an empty cross is just a couple of pieces of wood. It was the man that died on the cross that matters.

Saying that an empty cross is a sign of Christ’s resurrection begs the question. Why don’t we use folded cloths as signs of His resurrection?

Peace

Tim
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Best answer ever. 👍
 
GKC has a great quote on this, but I can’t find it at the moment. His point is how odd it is to wear the instrument of torture used to kill Jesus but to refuse to have Jesus Himself around our necks. Someone here might know the full quote.

I’d also point out that an empty cross really isn’t a symbol of the Resurrection at all. When Jesus came off the Cross, when the Cross was empty, He was dead. The empty tomb, not the empty Cross, is a sign of His Resurrection.

You can also always quote the Bible, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (I Cor 2:2)
 
PietroPaolo said:
GKC has a great quote on this, but I can’t find it at the moment. His point is how odd it is to wear the instrument of torture used to kill Jesus but to refuse to have Jesus Himself around our necks. Someone here might know the full quote.

I’d also point out that an empty cross really isn’t a symbol of the Resurrection at all. When Jesus came off the Cross, when the Cross was empty, He was dead. The empty tomb, not the empty Cross, is a sign of His Resurrection.

You can also always quote the Bible, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (I Cor 2:2)
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Found the GKC quote, from his Autobiography,

“The kind of Evangelical who demands what he calls a living Christ must surely find it difficult ot reconcile with his religion an indifference to a Dying Christ; but anyhow one would think he would prefer it to a Dead Cross. To salute the Cross in that sense is literally to bow down to wood and stone; since it is only an image in stone of something that was made of wood. It is surely less idolatrous to salute the Incarnate God or His image; and the case is further complicated by the relation of the image to the other object. If a man were ready to wreck every statue of Julius Caesar, but also ready to kiss the sword that killed him, he would be liable to be misunderstood as an ardent admirer of Caesar. If a man hated to have a portrait of Charles the First, but rubbed his hands with joy at the sight of the axe that beheaded him, he would have himself to blame if he were regarded rather as a Roundhead than a Royalist. And to permit the engine of execution, while forbidding a picture of the victim is just as strange and sinister in the case of Christ as in that of Caesar.”
 
Orogeny said:
Because an empty cross is just a couple of pieces of wood. It was the man that died on the cross that matters.

Saying that an empty cross is a sign of Christ’s resurrection begs the question. Why don’t we use folded cloths as signs of His resurrection?

Peace

Tim
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Amen.
 
Razanir said:
Sure, he rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. But that’s not what redeemed us. He redeemed us by dying on the cross. So no matter what, the cross is still a symbol of the suffering he went through for the world. It’s akin to if you wore a knife at all times. But it’s not a very direct reminder. ** By just showing an unadorned cross, we can become placid and forget about that suffering. The crucifix serves as a constant reminder of what Jesus went through for us**.
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:clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping:
 
I heard a Catholic evangelist answer this question once. He said the following (with much enthusiasm and zeal):
I wear a cross with Jesus on it so I’ll never forget what He has done for us! That He loved us so much that that’s why He gave up His life!
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But I know He’s alive! Because I had him this morning at Mass. I saw him in the Eucharist! I saw Him this morning in the sacrament of reconciliation! I saw Him in my wife when I got up this morning! I saw Him in my children! Oh give God some praise right now! I know my Lord’s alive!
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Peace,
John Marie Philomena
 
Razanir said:
Sure, he rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. But that’s not what redeemed us. He redeemed us by dying on the cross. So no matter what, the cross is still a symbol of the suffering he went through for the world. It’s akin to if you wore a knife at all times. But it’s not a very direct reminder. By just showing an unadorned cross, we can become placid and forget about that suffering. The crucifix serves as a constant reminder of what Jesus went through for us.
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I sometimes wear my Crucifix and sometimes wear just a diamond cross. Is there anything wrong with a Catholic wearing a cross instead of a Crucifix?
 
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