"Cross vs. Crucifix'

JMJ. I was lying awake in bed the other morning at "oh dark thirty" as we used to say in the service. That's been happening a lot lately but it was kinda fruitful this once. It came to me that in looking at an empty cross and comparing it to a Catholic crucifix we can see a fundamental philosophical difference between Protestants and Catholics.

Now, we all know that Jesus died to redeem our sins--that's a given--and that sacrificial death brought about the possibility of our eventual resurrection into heaven. The empty cross focuses on the reward, the resurrection into eternal life. Portraying Christ on His cross, though, focuses on the supreme sacrifice that led to that reward.

I've always said that the Catholic Church is far more biblical than the Protestants. Well, I and a whole bunch of fellow Catholics, anyway. We have only to read St. Paul who says, "We teach Christ and Him crucified" to see where the early Church put her emphasis. Further, St. Paul says that we must be crucified with Him. It certainly seems to me that we should be focusing on the redemptive sacrifice than the ultimate reward, wondrous as that may be. Besides, what more perfect prayer aid than to look at a crucifix and SEE what is the true price of our sins?