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water
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My brother, who is not a Catholic, has a Crucifix in his house.
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Deist
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Every thing you said could be true, but it’s the emboldened part that is the real reason…too Catholic.
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twosweetgirls
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I don’t think that at all.
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Deist
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That sounds like the reason protestants came up with AFTER they took down the crucifixes to justify it.Nail hit on the head.Symbolically an empty Cross shows the victory over Death Christ has and his death and resurrection are tied together and free us from the bondage of Death and original sin.
To keep Christ on the Cross says that everything stop there and the rest doesn’t matter that much. Yet the victory and the crushing of the serpents head wasn’t just the Cross it was also Christ rising from the Grave and reigning at the right hand of the Father.
O Death where is your victory, o grave where is your sting!
Since they took them down because they were “too Catholic”.
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hosemonkey
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That, to me, says it all. Protestants seem to have a real problem with Christ’s suffering made manifest in the crucifix. An empty cross is just two pieces of wood. A crucifix is a heartbreaking/heart changing story. I am reminded of a depiction of Christ scourged and crucified in the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California. He is life-size and extremely realistic. The first time I saw this, I was driven to my knees in tears, upon beholding His suffering. I was crushed to realize that MY sins had caused him such agony. We need that reminder. constantly. In our family, we have begun a tradition of viewing “The Passion” during the time leading up to Easter, as penance. His journey to the cross is culminated by the crucifixion and we wear and display that reminder humbly. That is what the crucifix means to us, as catholics.
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historyb
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That’s what an empty Cross reminds us of too. Every time I look at the Cross it reminds me of what Christ did and that I am a rotten sinner saved by Faith through his grace, but it doesn’t just stop there because the Cross it empty I know that he has won total victory and reigns with the Father. A crucifix is nice, but imho it does not tell the rest of the story.
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O.S.Luke
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I have gotten into the habit of using a crucifix during Lent. We are always living in the tension of the Triduum. It’s a both/and, not an either/or.
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Pixie_Dust
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Well it’s a good thing Catholics get the whole story at every Mass, then.
In the Creed:
…We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us men and our salvation, he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered, died and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. …
And then again during the Eucharistic Prayers:
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Dying you destroyed our death.
Rising you restored our life,
Lord Jesus, come in Glory.
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Gottle_of_Geer
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If Catholics ate cheese & Protestants did not, we’d probably be arguing over that. 
The earliest processional cross is from Rome at the end of the fourth century - the first Christian representation of Christ Crucified, as Himself, & not as the Lamb or in some other symbolic form, is (IIRC) is in a Syrian Gospel-book dated 586. For a long time, even after the abolition of crucifixion within the Roman Empire in 315, there was no representation of Christ in agony - not until the 13th century, with the growth of devotion to the Passion, as a result of the preaching of the Franciscans. Christ as Victor, or Christ as Crucified King & Priest, were both older ways of representing Him: which is why (BTW) quite a few Catholic (& other) churches do not have the familiar type of crucifix or other “traditional” representation of the Passion - there are many ways of representing what He did on the Cross: the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood represents Christ on the Cross as a warrior. 
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Deconi
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Currently, when you see any number of people on the street, you can only tell their Christianity by some ‘crucifix’ they wear, somewhere.
With the way fashion has gone and added a crucifix to the mix, now you can’t even be certain the wearer is Christian!
Ah, but if you ‘cross yourself,’ all question is removed. It is definitive of being (Catholic) Christian! Not just Christian, but “the worst kind” to mess with!
I wonder if those who passed it on to us knew of its significance to come!? Given the dissention among Christianity, or the growing lean towards relativism (you’re ok, we’re ok) such a simple object like a crucifix, or an action of ‘crossing yourself’ sets one apart like a “signature flag” or sudden burst of Neon light! (I know He is All-knowing but sometimes I wonder out loud, Man! how does He do that?!!)
With the way fashion has gone and added a crucifix to the mix, now you can’t even be certain the wearer is Christian!
Ah, but if you ‘cross yourself,’ all question is removed. It is definitive of being (Catholic) Christian! Not just Christian, but “the worst kind” to mess with!
I wonder if those who passed it on to us knew of its significance to come!? Given the dissention among Christianity, or the growing lean towards relativism (you’re ok, we’re ok) such a simple object like a crucifix, or an action of ‘crossing yourself’ sets one apart like a “signature flag” or sudden burst of Neon light! (I know He is All-knowing but sometimes I wonder out loud, Man! how does He do that?!!)
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Cat
Guest
Many years ago when she was a young teenager (Protestant), my daughter said that it makes no sense to wear a cross necklace. She said the cross is just the instrument of execution. To her, it was like wearing a little gold-plated electric chair or hangman’s noose–creepy!
She said that the cross only has meaning when it is a crucifix.
That daughter is going to RCIA this year!
BTW, I know lots of Catholics who revere the empty cross and wear it as much as they revere the crucifix and wear it.
And my favorite actor takes no chances–he wears the cross and the crucifix at the same time, along with three saints!
She said that the cross only has meaning when it is a crucifix.
That daughter is going to RCIA this year!
BTW, I know lots of Catholics who revere the empty cross and wear it as much as they revere the crucifix and wear it.
And my favorite actor takes no chances–he wears the cross and the crucifix at the same time, along with three saints!
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rmcmullan
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Some good points here. Even though my church doesn’t use the crucifix, it’s is pretty much acknowledged worldwide as a symbol of Christianity and I like that. Let your light so shine. Even though there is some sectarian concern over the use of the crucifix over-emphasizing the death of Christ, Christians should never be ashamed of their Christian beliefs and to the degree that the cross represents them, they should be proud to wear or display it.
On the other hand, I do see some signs of excess. Some of the pictures of Christ with his heart encircled with thorns and a fire on top I (personally) find a little creepy.
On the other hand, I do see some signs of excess. Some of the pictures of Christ with his heart encircled with thorns and a fire on top I (personally) find a little creepy.
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cecilia97
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That is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a symbolic and artistic representation of Christ’s love for us and the pains he endured for us. IIRC, the flames are the Holy Spirit. We don’t actually believe that Jesus had thorns around his heart and it was set on fire.
newadvent.org/cathen/07163a.htm
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jmcrae
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That’s from a vision that someone experienced, who was praying to know the love of Christ for her. She passed it on to the Church, and a lot of people, including me, find it very meaningful and special.
It’s called The Sacred Heart of Jesus, and it’s one of the first things that actually made sense to me, in the Catholic faith.
Over time, various different prayers and devotions have also developed around the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as well, which are very interesting to participate in.
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Protestant101
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Jesus said “Let your light shine;” not your cross!
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Tantum_ergo
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He also said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.”
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twosweetgirls
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Tantum Ergo for President.
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Protestant101
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He didn’t mean a physical cross; and He didn’t mean to do it without your “light.” The “crosses” that we so commonly see on many Christians, are esentially jewelry. Nothing else. Recently; I saw someone with a big cross around their neck. Only trouble was is the person was a crack addict who was sticking a needle in his vein.
I also met a priest a while ago; again, with a cross around his neck. He was also a child molester. The outward adorning of a cross and it’s use for commercial gain or to falsify your image to the public is what Protestants protest; not “the cross of Jesus Christ.”
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“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!!”
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twosweetgirls
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Sorry, Protestant101, but your post made zero sense. There are perhaps hundreds of Catholics on this board who would very much disagree with your revelation of “Jesus didn’t mean physical cross” interpretation. 
These people deal daily with physical ills of all kinds–cancer, infertility, diabetes, arthritis, difficult pregnancies, depression–and those amazing people count their maladies as crosses to bear with Jesus on His Way to Calvary. Perhaps you may want to widen your understanding of just how “physical” some people’s crosses are.
Oh, and the thing about the priest (which was a low blow, IMO). . . a very recent case, that of the Protestant Pastor Winkler whose wife shot him to end sexual perversion, abuse and molestation of his daughters. . . sickos come from EVERY walk of life and EVERY religious persuasion. And some of these sickos even preach.
These people deal daily with physical ills of all kinds–cancer, infertility, diabetes, arthritis, difficult pregnancies, depression–and those amazing people count their maladies as crosses to bear with Jesus on His Way to Calvary. Perhaps you may want to widen your understanding of just how “physical” some people’s crosses are.Oh, and the thing about the priest (which was a low blow, IMO). . . a very recent case, that of the Protestant Pastor Winkler whose wife shot him to end sexual perversion, abuse and molestation of his daughters. . . sickos come from EVERY walk of life and EVERY religious persuasion. And some of these sickos even preach.
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Tantum_ergo
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Really? Prove it. Where does it say, "take up your ‘non physical’ cross? Come to that, I only noted Christ said, "take up your cross’. YOU are the one assuming I ‘only’ meant 'physical. And I said nothing about ignoring the light, either.
Wow. So because two people you ‘tell’ us are sinners wore crosses, it’s the CROSSES which are bad?
And you have the God-like judgment to proclaim all crosses are worn for ‘commercial gain’ and ‘false representation?’ By whose authority do YOU speak for ALL? :tsktsk:
And just where does it say a cross cannot be physical AS WELL as spiritial? Where does it say that, “Lo, let your light shine–and you can have lamps, nite-lites, flashlights, pictures of lights, T shirts with pictures of lights etc., songs about 'letting your light shine” --but don’t even THINK of wearing a cross, putting a cross in your church, and ESPECIALLY not one with a representation of MY BODY on it! to remind you of me. THAT’s a big no-no."
You see, it’s that kind of twisted pseudo-logic, PRESUMPTION, and general judgmental behavior on the part of others, specifically in this case a non-Catholic pronouncing that because HE THINKS those who wear crosses are doing it ‘for financial gain and false representation’ then THAT’S THE TRUTH . .no matter what the Catholic who is actually WEARING the cross is REALLY doing. . .that pretty much stops any real communication in its tracks. How sad.
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