The cross shares in the veneration and reverence we have for the person of Jesus. The whole world is a symbol of God. The creation reflects its Creator. We do not make love with concepts, but with words and deeds. What is in our minds stays there until we say it, or play it, or act it, or do it, or mime it.
Nothing leaves the mind but by way of symbol.
You smile at the little infant in your arms and the little infant smiles back. A shattering experience. So, the church building is silent sign language to the world grown deaf to all our words. God is present. God is with you.