The Sign of the Cross: Father Matthew Presents

[ElijahEsMom]

Father Matthew- your video is informative, to the point, and humorous without mocking. Religion does not have to be outdated and stuffy. I am new to the Catholic faith, and I'm trying not to stumble and fumble around my first experiences during Catholic Mass. I appreciate your way of making it seem accessible and welcoming to me. Thank you for making me smile, and for Regina who made me laugh. Thumbs up for "Christian gang signs" lol, and I like to think Jesus has a sense of humor too.

[foreverBoiling]

The Sign of the Cross: the number 6 !

it's written:

...had two horns like a lamb..(rev13:11)

read rev2:7 :)

[gangsta287]

i thought christians didnt belive in evolution so why is there a dinosaur there

[FatherMatthew]

@gangsta287 I can vouch for dinosaurs being real. And she's a hoot!

[aaronw19711]

@gangsta287 It's not that wedon't beleive in evolution.The bible speaks of all creatures being created by God.But the times spoken about in the bible are after the dinosaurs and therefor not mentioned in the scripture,thats my take on it.

[ChristianityTheTruth]

Christian gang sign! 03:54

[BaddieT1994]

YOU DO REALISE YOUR MAKING AN INVERTED CROSS?

[FatherMatthew]

@BaddieT1994 Umm... crosses are symmetrical, so no matter which way you do it (Catholics one way and Orthodox another) it is still a cross. Do you realize I have a miniature T-Rex?

[Stephenmt89]

@FatherMatthew I also want to add that the inverted cross is very much a Christian symbol due to its representation of Peter, if I'm not mistaken.

[NejiKusa]

I believe in God, but I do not follow any religious groups. Why? Because I just can't see that God cares about the little details. Be a good person and thank God.

[Tomahawk2408]

@NejiKusa guess im not alone in my belief

[mardinieng]

A big Hello From Middle East - Jordan .............please pray for our Christian people in Holy Lands

[jmmsusa]

Thank you.. Great clarification !!

[Baboosi1]

Very fun.

[wHeRzElAnE]

I love Regina 

[CATHOLICjesus]

the episcopal church was a man made religion that was ment to be like the Church of England Man Made=FAKE!

[Exaltedisthecreator]

(Nehemiah 8:6)

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.

I have many many more to quote but this is how the bible teaches us to pray. LIKE THE PROPHETS DID. It would be best for you to pray as they did.

Prostrate like they did, bow down before your Lord, kneel before Him and prostrate yourselves face touching the ground. Then pray to Him.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

(2 Chronicles 20:18)

Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.

(2 chronicles 7:3)

And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

No tools for praying!

Quote, revelations 7:11

"They (the angels) fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped god"

(Matt 26:39)

"Going a little farther, he (jesus) fell with his face to the ground and prayed..."

psalm 95:6)

"Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker"

( I Kings 18:42)

So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

[HypoDroid]

You're funny. I was actually only looking for how to do the "In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti" thing like they do in The Boondock Saints, but I surprised myself by watching the whole thing through. I liked your puppet.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

It is NOT God's will you make crucifix's.

[FatherMatthew]

@Exaltedisthecreator Crucifixes are tools for prayer to God. Remember the summary of the law: You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself. Praying through a crucifix is a tool to loving the Lord with your heart and artistic strength. Its fine. Furthermore, is the sign of the cross really an 'image'? It is more of a body dance. Read the Bible with the heart of Jesus, not the other way around

[Exaltedisthecreator]

@FatherMatthew What would Abraham or Moses have to say about this? A "Tool for prayer"?

Prostrate yourself like Jesus did towards our God, the use of the cross is unnecessary.

A carved image of christ is on many crucifixes and many within the churches behind the alters, also many many statues of heavenly persons.

Many parts of christianity teach that Jesus is God even though the bible proves Jesus is not God, people say prayers to others other than God, the people are misguided.

[nicksum29]

@Exaltedisthecreator Oh don't be such an old biddy. if it helps prayer, it's good.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

@nicksum29 An old biddy....lol, I haven't heard that in years! I speak that which God has commanded, but I love you all.

[nicksum29]

@Exaltedisthecreator Christians understand that Christ renewed the world. None of us is able to obey the commandments of God. Christ had to sacrifice Himself for our inevitable sins. He is the New Covenant, and the Only source of Redemption. There is not question of "but I don't believe". If you are human, it is already so. To deny Christ's role is to set yourself the impossible task of obeying every dot and comma of scriptures, without exception, or a moments deviation.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

@nicksum29 Jesus is not the Only source of redemption, none are greater at forgiveness than that of God.

Christ indeed did renew the world. I would never deny the messiah. I deny the teachings or present day christianity. I was born christian, baptized. The followers of Jesus in his time never came to the conclusion that he himself is God. Jesus thought us WHO to pray to and HOW. Jesus himself told us to pray to God, worship God, say "our father". Jesus never demanded worship to himself.

[nicksum29]

@Exaltedisthecreator Ah, the "dead-God argument".This is also used by atheists. You forget that Jesus rose from the dead. He walked again. He lives NOW, and influences us NOW. After His resurrection He had MORE power on Earth, not less! The evolution of the Gospels was driven by the LIVING presence of the Holy Ghost. The only way you can believe that Jesus' original followers were the ONLy correct interpreters of Christ, is if you doubt Christ's presence in the formation of Holy Scripture.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

@nicksum29 I am unsure about this "dead god thing", I do not understand your point. Of course christ lives, christ most certainly did rise from the dead and walked again. I do not understand how Jesus could have less power after his resurrection. Christ is always with us, but even more powerful is the presence of God also. Both can be felt. The signs of God are clear to those who believe. To which formation of scripture are you referring to that one might be in doubt christ presence? I don't btw

[nicksum29]

@Exaltedisthecreator You want to rely solely on scripture - and then only those scriptures that YOU think are true. Those that affirm Christ's oneness with God, you prefer to ignore, as it disrupts YOUR idea of God. You fail to realise that those scriptures were lead, inspired by, and brought about through the influence of the Holy Spirit through the writer who was creating it. The Word was fully revealed after Christ rose - through the creation of the Gospels and the writings of Paul.

[Exaltedisthecreator]

@nicksum29 You make no sense by assuming what my beliefs are. . Jesus is God's christ, of course he is one with God. Ask me anything you wish, you will find my words truthful and just, as is the guidance God gives by His word. Which is scripture. Are you led by the scriptures sent down by God, the angels and the messengers or are you led by what men have attributed to God what they know not?

[nicksum29]

@Exaltedisthecreator I believe scriptures (all of them) are very powerful indeed, but they are not without their problems.  They need to be interpreted through prayer and spiritual guidance.

[nicksum29]

@Exaltedisthecreator Scripture is not the Word of God. Christ is The Word. Scripture is an introductory love letter to The Word. Do you truly belief that the sum of God can be captured in a book? Any book?

[pattonpatterns]

@Exaltedisthecreator : Are you vocally opposed to nativity scenes? I assume that you're a consistent person and bug people about those, too.

[thePaschalCandle]

@Exaltedisthecreator You do realise that God asked Moses to place two golden Cherubim on top of the Ark of the Covenant. He also asked Moses to make the bronze serpent. When King Solomon built the First Temple, he had statues of angels, and even paintings of angels on the walls of the Temple. If it is wrong to even make an image of anything in Heaven, or on earth, then why does God do it? You are allowed to make images, but you are not allowed to worship it as God! 

[Bearzilla1956]

Father Mathew...all your video's are great!! Very informative and with a sense of humor. Truly enjoyable and much appreciated. 

[christineXtilson]

LMFAO Regina. this video easily made my day.

[MsAnime132]

:) informative and straight to the point

2:31 - 2:40 hahaha!

[proaking1]

I can only use five words to describe this video, excluding the ones before and this word: Informative, Innovative, Interesting yet Humorous

[woweixiaomiandui]

Great video. Combines some of my favourit things: christianity, dinosaurs, new info and comedy :D

Showed it to my friends at my uni, and they all loved miss T. Regina :D

Peace

[ElegantTotality]

I'll be honest, I thought this was another Youtube video mocking the faith and tradition of Christians, but it was a great way to teach us about the sign of the cross. =) (I realized that anyone who would be mocking the traditions would be far more obvious and much less factual, lol)

[MsAmian]

This was wonderful... truly informative (even explaining all the little details of when and how which I have had trouble finding elsewhere) and genuinely funny to boot. Thanks so much for this, Father Matthew!

[philocratic]

thank you fr. Matthew for posting this. it wil of great help for our sunday school teachers in the philippines..

[CEZNAFERNANDEZ]

father Matthew you should sell copies of little reginas :) she is so cute , God bless you 

[FatherMatthew]

The "mark of the beast" in the book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine alludes to the discriminating power of empire (Babylon, Rome) written during a time when the Christians were being abused by the Roman Empire. The saints in that book, on the other hand, have the "mark of the Lamb," or in other words their commitment to Christ and his humble grace. The sign of the cross is symbolically a "mark of the Lamb" and has nothing to do with "the beast." The beast hates crucifixion!

[superlolothunder1]

The sign of the cross is the mark of the beast in Rev. Using the forehead and right hand. 

[jmichaelmatkin]

And that, children, is why dinosaurs are extinct.

[JASONANDTRACI]

@MrBkey DO NOT FOLLOW the great whore of Babylon. Find Jesus Christ yourself through reading the King JAmes Bible.

May Jesus Christ open your eye to the truth. You do not need idol worshipping, horus(sunday) keeping, and promoters of a new world order/ one world religion based of the antichrist WAKE UP.

[raphyortanez]

@JASONANDTRACI King James Bible is a Incomplete Bible, please know the HISTORY FIRST.

[whitesox901]

Anyone else think its funny the Reverend is playing with Dinosaur, lol.

[simulist1980]

I'm atheist, but I still gotta say: you're a good man.

[mountaindew68]

Great job! I'm not Christian but I really enjoyed this video.

[hayjayjess]

regina i love you! :D

[SurferRosa79]

okay, okay, I get it now, the sign of the cross was first used by the tyrannosaurus during the cretaceous, which is also the time of the early church. Given the T-rex had ridiculously small forelimbs, they were pretty upset for not being able to do the sign of the cross touching their forehead and shoulders so they retaliated by eating all of those who dared use the Xian Gang Sign... how the T-Rex came up with the idea of baptisms is pretty awesome too but I think I'll save that story for later.

[MyMonkVlog]

Padre, that was well done. Funny, entertaining and informative. Great video, great job and a great priest. God Bless

[coldlittle]

Hot!? In A Church!? :L

[VelaToNorma7]

Pedophile

[asmoore84]

@VelaToNorma7 Troll

[treeloop98]

@VelaToNorma7 First of all he's not even a catholic priest, second of all you are too sucked into media and propaganda as most priests aren't, and third of all do you have to ruin this video with that comment.

[MrBillTroop73]

It's hard not to like this guy!

[KenATL]

Father, can you comment on the practice of touching the heart (or not) in making the Sign of the Cross? I noticed that you did it without explanation. I also do it, and have been questioned about it by someone occasionally. In my practice, my intention for doing it is, "In the Name of the Father" (head) "and of the Son" (heart) "and of the Holy Spirit" (shoulders) with the heart at the "Amen" symbolizing one God.

[Jgrant3919]

If I meet a leprechaun, should I salute with my right hand or my left hand? And at what angle should I hold my elbow?

[funnyguytoo]

Thanks for the video Father, I always wondered even which shoulder to touch first. I'm more used to kissing my hand in IXC and raising it up after doing the cross than to touch my heart. But know I know more ways to praise our good Father (God).

[AnHonestChristian]

You get better and better, Father Matthew.

Thank you for this video. :)

[miketvs]

I loved your explanation about this ancient tradition. I think most people, both fundamentalist Christians and atheists, tend to view the sign of the cross as superstitious, when really it's a summary and expression of our whole faith! "If anyone should come after me he should deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23)

[SnapeAngel]

Regina is a nice addition..she's so funny! Such good information about the sign of the cross and it's history and why it's done the way it is, thank you.

[normmd]

I teach confirmation classes and adult forums. What sources did you draw from for the information given in this video?

[pburrows10]

@HyperNessie It's a play on words with Tyrannosaurus Rex. Female T-Rex = T-Regina.

[xrenascor]

Could you say a little bit about traditions that do not return to the heart after touching both shoulders?

[FatherMatthew]

@xrenascor These traditions work.

[xrenascor]

@FatherMatthew Do you exactly why Episcopalians have this tradition and other traditions do not?

[hedwyg]

@FatherMatthew Though I'm a cradle Episcopalian, I've always crossed myself Orthodox-style (top, bottom, right, left) and not returned to the heart at the end. The right-to-left mirrors the priestly blessing, which is kind of neat. I think I persist in doing it this way from sheer cussedness. :-)

[FatherMatthew]

@hedwyg Fine by me, and especially fine to God, I believe!

[mindspring57]

@FatherMatthew I am Ukrainian Catholic (Byzantine Catholic). Eastern Catholics as well as Eastern Orthodox, make the Sign of the Cross right-to-left as well.

[scottknitter]

@xrenascor Not returning to the heart is the way most Roman Catholics cross themselves, in my experience. After the right shoulder, you're done, and return to hands together in prayer posture or back to helping hold a book, or resting on the pew back in front of you.

[QuesterLEJ]

@HyperNessie Yes it does.

[Alana8480]

"Awesome Christian Gang Sign" lol

[kd5tmu]

Father, as an Orthodox Christian, I have found the more ancient method to be best. That is, right shoulder first. It mirrors the priest's blessing of the person/congregation, instead of going against it. Also, for hand position, the Christogram symbol is used by the priest to bless, but the people put the last 2 fingers in the palm, as you did, and the thumb, index, and middle fingers together like a pinch, representing the Holy Trinity.

[Operaman41]

Thank you Fr.Mathew that was WOnderful!!! I am going to put it on Facebook!

If you are on FB please I would love to be friends with you!

[SnapeAngel]

@Operaman41

he is on FB under: Father Matthew Presents

[higgyboy21]

Great video, Fr. Matthew. I haven't seen all of them so I am not familiar with Regina but she is hilarious! :) 

[differnet]

@higgyboy21 You should check out Father Matthew's video where gives marriage counseling to Regina and Jehosephsat!! One of his funniest videos ever.

[differnet]

Another great video Father Matthew. When I cross myself, I touch my forhead, my stomach, right shoulder, left should and heart. I started doing this around the age of 10. The movie the Excorcist had come out (yes, I'm THAT old) and I thought that going forehead, heart, shoulder and shoulder seemed too much like an upside down cross and freaked me out, so I started going lower on my body.