The sign of the holy cross is one of the traditional ceremonies retained by Luther and other reformers in the Lutheran confession in the sixteenth-century Reformation. Luther urged in his Large and Small Catechisms that it continue to be used. This holy sign has been used in the church from apostolic times and continues to be used in our day.

In this age of information, the messages are often conflicting. There are so many messages that you’re often confused. What is true, what is deceiving, and what is misleading? How can you possibly know? If only you had an angel from God, a holy messenger, to come and tell you what is really real. But you have angels sent by God to speak the Word of Jesus authoritatively.

Why is this happening? What is real? Who should I trust? How did we get so confused? Have we lost our collective minds? I keep asking these and similar questions. We are mixed up. We don’t know up from down. We can’t figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying. We’re back on our heels and disoriented. We are overwhelmed with information, misinformation, and disinformation.