Sign of the cross with the left hand!

By Julia Fernandes

January 28, 2018

“Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.” Samuel 1 16:17

Yesterday while I was teaching Catechism class in the church, an elderly gentleman cornered one of my students. He saw her making the sign of the cross with her left hand and admonished her and told her to make the sign of the cross with the right hand.

When I left the church and was waiting for the auto, the same elderly man cornered me and told me, if you don’t correct the children people will ask what sort of teacher are you. I tried reasoning with the man that the child was a left-handed to which he retorted that he himself is a left hander.

He then revealed to me how his mother pierced a knife on his left fingers when he attempted to make the sign of the cross with his left hand when he was a small child.

When the man went away, I did my best to motivate my left handed student and make her realize that there is nothing wrong in her being left handed. But her answer astounded me.

Despite the man’s attempts to make her feel terrible for using her left hand to make the sign of the cross, my student told me, “Miss, whether we are good or bad in the eyes of people, we are always good for God.”

Why is the left hand considered not good? How can anything that God has made be bad? Does it really matter to God whether we use the left or right hand to make the sign of the cross? What about those who do not have their right arm? Or those who do not have arms?

People reason that in the Apostles Creed we say that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. Does it mean that the left hand of God is not good? No. It simply implies that while we know that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, we just do not know who is sitting at the left hand of God! It’s as simple as that.

If a priest is left-handed, it’s perfectly fine if he makes the sign of the cross with his left hand or raises the host with his left hand or distributes communion with his left hand. I would never feel offended. On the contrary, I would admire and appreciate the uniqueness of seeing the left hand going up – a sight we never get to see regularly.

I would appreciate the beauty of God’s creation, in how he has made in some individuals the left part of their body muscles so powerful!

Another student of mine told me that her mother beats her younger brother because he uses his left hand.

To all parents, teachers and elders, if you have a child that’s a left hander, please do not force or beat them or traumatize them. That is way God has made them. Please accept them the way they are. Only 10% of the world’s population is left-handed. That’s how rare and special they are. They are unique to God.

And to all the left handers in the world, continue to be who you are. Be proud of the way God has made you. Don’t let the world tell you who you should not be.

Go ahead and be like Jesus who never even condemned sinners but took on the elders who were far away from the original teachings of God. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for using your left hand when it is God Himself who has bestowed more powers in your left hand.

Use your uniqueness to glorify God even if means using your left hand to make the sign of the cross!