The Crucifix

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TimothyH said:
Some of you need to take a deep breath and slow down.

The Cross sans Corpus has been venerated by many throughout Christian history.

When you see a poor wooden Cross, alone, uncared-for, and of no value… and without its Crucified, don’t forget that that Cross is your Cross: the Cross of each day, the hidden Cross, without splendour or consolation…, the Cross which is awaiting the Crucified it lacks: and that Crucified must be you.
  • St. Josemaria Escriva
The empty cross reminds us that we have to nail ourselves to our own cross, what we have to crucify ourselves each day. Monastics have always venerated the empty cross as a reminder of the ascetic life. Most recently members of Opus Dei venerate the empty cross as a reminder of personal mortification and sacrifice. I sometimes carry a clunky little black wooden cross in my pocket. It helps me when I am tempted. I look at it and remind myself that I belong on that cross.

Remember that in our Baptism we have died with Christ. Paul understood this as being crucified with Christ.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The Cross without a Corpus is not just a Protestant thing. Christians have been venerating the empty cross centuries before the reformation.

-Tim-
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👍 Tim, I would just add Jesus said do this in remembrance of me,not just His resurrection but His hanging on the cross.

God Bless
Bob:)
 
Ask your family member why he/she feels that seeing Jesus upon the cross… knowing he suffered and died upon that cross for his/her salvation …is so offensive to him/her.
Have a blessed Easter
 
srfnolen said:
A non-catholic family member asked about the crucifix commonly seen in churches and Catholic homes. “Why do they still have him on the cross? He isn’t there anymore.”

What is a good reply to this question.

Thanks,
Srfnolen
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God-Incarnate, Jesus, feeds us in the Eucharist which was instituted on Holy Thursday which is before Good Friday, Crucifixion day.

We are called to be “Good Friday” people on our way to Easter and it could very well be that that which was instituted on Holy Thursday, at the Last Supper, is to help us in our own “personal Good Friday”?

Since Jesus died for us and Jesus extended the invitation to “Come follow Me”, could be that Jesus is asking us to be Good Friday people to others just as Jesus was “The Good Friday” Person for us.

Ever thought that God has, even before creation itself, had in mind that we are to be “active participants”, rather than just passive recipients, in God’s Plan of Salvation for humanity?

Could be that the crucifix, which is the cross with Jesus on it, is to remind us that Jesus’s invitation was to “Come follow Me” and since Jesus went to “His cross”, do you think that going to “our cross” could be part of accepting Jesus’s invitation to “Come follow Me”?
 
srfnolen said:
A non-catholic family member asked about the crucifix commo]nly seen in churches and Catholic homes. “Why do they still have him on the cross? He isn’t there anymore.”

What is a good reply to this question.

Thanks,
Srfnolen
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IT IS A REMINDER OF how much gOD LOVES US AND DESIRES TO BE IN A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH US

1st. Cor. 1: 21-25
“For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world, by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save them that believe. [22] For both the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23]** But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness**: [24] But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. [25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men”👍

Catholics hold Easter as the Holiest of Holy Days. The Penacle of the entire years Sundays, BUT one must never forget the price christ willingly paid for Easter Sunday to become a reality. Amen!

God Bless you,
Patrick.
 
drforjc said:
Fine, but what does that have to do with the OP’s question RE: Jesus no longer being on the cross and the inappropriateness of Him being depicted that way?
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That’s really simple to answer. Who in the world believes we ‘keep Jesus on the cross’? It’s not like the crucifix is supposed to be a voodoo doll or something. Just because we portray Jesus dead on the cross doesn’t mean Catholics believe Jesus stayed on the cross dead. Besides, IMHO it’s a very lame excuse to justify iconophobia - I think what’s in issue here is whether holy images and their veneration are okay or not.
 
We leave Jesus on the Cross,to help us remember that he love us so much,that he was willling to suffer and die,so that we could be saved.
 
patrick457 said:
That’s really simple to answer. Who in the world believes we ‘keep Jesus on the cross’? It’s not like the crucifix is supposed to be a voodoo doll or something. Just because we portray Jesus dead on the cross doesn’t mean Catholics believe Jesus stayed on the cross dead. Besides, IMHO it’s a very lame excuse to justify iconophobia - I think what’s in issue here is whether holy images and their veneration are okay or not.
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Yes, this is my Lutheran mother-in-laws problem with crucifixes. She told me it was idol worship.:mad: I told her you do realize I am not worshiping this piece of metal, but Jesus, right? She knows that, yet she still feels the need to comment. I know what you’re going through OP.
 
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