Little is known by many about the two great writers in ancient Greece, namely, Homer and Hesiod. Except one is majoring in Literature or English under the Liberal Arts course, and one has the opportunity to read the importance of their writings that shaped western civilization.
Historians and scholars assigned their existence around 8th century BC. Speaking of ancient Greece, it is divided according to their political and historical periods, and these two Greek writers fall into different place.
Homer was believed to belong to the Ionian period of old civilization, long before the Aechean aristocracy took its reign. Homer was known for his great epic Iliad, which tells about the Trojan War between the Greeks and the people living the city of Troy, and Odyssey, which tells about the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War.
Hesiod, on the other hand, was the epic writer of the mainland Greece. Hesiod was known for his poem Theogony, which speaks about the genealogy of the gods and the creation of the world.
The contributions of Homer and Hesiod to the ancient Greece help others understand on harmonious living with other men and women in the society, on the origin of the world, and on laws governing the universe. Furthermore, their conception of ideas serves as the springboard of rational reflection by men who wonders things around them. It is the beginning of endless philosophical journey.
Sources: Copleston, Frederick, S.J. A History of Philosophy. Vol. 1 Greece and Rome, and Microsoft Student 2008
The Sign of the Cross is made thus: First choose your style:
·Option A. With your right hand, touch the thumb and ring finger together, and hold your index finger and middle finger together to signify the two natures of Christ. This is the most typical Western Catholic practice.
·Option B. Hold your thumb and index finger of your right hand together to signify the two natures of Christ
·Option C. Hold your thumb, index finger, middle finger of your right hand together (signifying the Trinity) while tucking the ring finger and pinky finger (signifying the two natures of Christ) toward your palm. This is the typically Eastern Catholic practice.
·Option D: Hold your right hand open with all 5 fingers -- representing the 5 Wounds of Christ -- together and very slightly curved, and thumb slightly tucked into palm
Then:
·touch the forehead as you say (or pray mentally) "In nomine Patris" ("In the name of the Father")
·touch the breastbone or top of the belly as you say "et Filii" ("and of the Son")
·touch the left shoulder, then right shoulder, as you say "et Spiritus Sancti" ("and of the Holy Ghost"). Note that some people end the Sign by crossing the thumb over the index finger to make a cross, and then kissing the thumb as a way of "kissing the Cross."
Conclusion
This sacred sign being practiced by Catholics is no mere empty sign as thought by many who did not understand it. The forehead is the locus where each individual recognized as the entry point and storage of knowledge. By this holy gesture, it helps us remember that God is the only Supreme Being whom we render our worship, reminds us of our identity as followers of the cross where we attain salvation, shows our dependence to Him and our nothingness, and makes Jesus as the center of our being and living in the truth of the Trinity – Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Among the Christian groups, only members of the Roman Catholic Church are doing the sign of the cross. Yet many of these members do not know the meaning and reason why they are doing it and how to do it properly. This simple note can help us understand the topic in four points. 1. The foreheads in the writings of the Old Testament and the Church Fathers. 2. Why do we make the sign of the cross? 3. When do we make the sign? 4. How do we make the sign of the cross?
1. The forehead in the writings of the Old Testament and the Church Fathers are of utmost importance. The Church Fathers inherits its significance from the Old Testament that became the tradition of the whole Catholic Church where the sign of the cross should begin with. There are two OT writings that tell about the foreheads – Book of Deuteronomy and the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel – and two writings from the Church Fathers – St. Cyril of Jerusalem, A.D. 315 – 386.
a. In Deuteronomy 6: 4-8, the first part of the passage contains the Shema that informs every Jew about their religious duty of love God alone. Every Israelite should place the shema inside the small box and place them in their foreheads as a sign of being a faithful follower of Yahweh. They call it phylacteries. In Ezekiel 9:4, Yahweh tells prophet Ezekiel about the destruction to come in Jerusalem because of the abomination people were doing, and do the mark on the foreheads of men who were righteous.
b. St Cyril of Jerusalem speaks of the forehead from which the sign of the cross be made by our fingers. For him every Christian should reveal the sign of the cross proudly. One should not be ashamed of it nor hid it from the public. For the great price won by Christ is no other but through the cross.
2. The words of St. Cyril have become the basis and standard for the Catholic Church in doing the sign of the cross, beginning with their forehead. The church has also adopted new meanings to it. First, instead of placing the words of the scripture in the foreheads like the Jews themselves were doing, the act of signing one’ self with the cross has been made as the procedure of expressing one’s faith and love for Jesus. Secondly, the cross itself has become the new seal of being Christians, because through the cross Christ has won the victory over sin for us – eternal life. Thirdly, whenever we do the sign of the cross, we profess that our God is indeed three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And lastly, St. Cyril says that by doing the sign of the cross, we are shield from Satan and his temptation because they are afraid of Him, and for St. Ephrem, it is a protecting wall round all your conduct.
3. St. Ephrem of Syria (died A.D. 373), along with St. Cyril of Jerusalem, has taught the Christians in their own respective communities when they would do the sign of the cross. Let me quote their exact words.
St. Ephrem said: “…over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are still.”
St. Cyril said: “Do not go out from the door of your house till you have signed yourself with the Cross. Do not neglect that sign whether in eating or drinking or going to sleep, or in the home or going on a journey. There is no habit to be compared with it.”
The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, sends his message for Lent 2011 to the Christendom last 04 November 2010. There are three parts in his message, to wit: the importance of the sacrament of baptism, the Word of God, and the traditional acts of fasting, almsgiving and prayer. The flow of his message describes the journey of every Christian, from being born again with water and spirit, nourished with the scripture, and the praxis of the gift of faith.
To my judgment, the focus on baptism is something of valuable importance to expound the topic in order to avoid misconceptions believes by many of our brethren Christians (not Catholics). It is because baptism is considered as the gateway to other sacraments. It means that one cannot proceed and receive other sacraments without being baptized. And the first part of the message for lent by His Holiness can help us enlighten the matter.
The sacrament of baptism indeed gives each recipient new life. By this life, our state from living a natural life is now elevated to the next level. And that is to supernatural life where we become somebody, as special than the rest of natural lives on earth like animals and plants and nonliving things. And why do we receive it after few days or weeks or month right after our birth?
First, baptism shows us that this new life is a gift from God. It is only God that can give us this supernatural and elevated life. Second, in baptism, the recipient becomes sharer in the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we receive it, we let go of our state of sinfulness by dying and by rising to a new state of life with Him. Third, in baptism we meet the Lord. It is a personal and a holy encounter with Him. What a privilege! And lastly, baptism imparts divine life. In sharing our own life with God through sanctifying grace and genuine prayer, we do not journey on earth on our own. We are not alone in struggling our own sinfulness and limitation. He will help us bear our problems and struggles.
Becoming part of the Lord’s community by being baptized is a great act of love on our part to God. The community is the venue where we develop our identity as Christians and where we receive Jesus concretely in the breaking of the bread. Our parents’ choice of having us baptized is the best choice they have made for our salvation. So, why we deprive of ourselves of this gift of baptism until when we get adult?
