The goal of the greeting is not to say ‘Hi! How are
you?’ When the priest says, “The Lord be
with you,” he is acknowledging the Lord’s presence within us, the
assembly. It is a reminder of our
identity (as the beloved of God) and also an invitation by the priest for us to
focus in on the holy things (mysteries) about to take place. We reply with confidence that we are ready
and that we have faith that God’s Spirit rests with us and (in a special way,
through the Sacrament of Holy Orders) in the priest who acts in the person of Jesus, making Christ
present as we celebrate Mass. In a
sense, we are asking that the Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the giver of life,”
establish a stronger communion among us, so that the celebration can be truly
shared.
This new translation is more similar to the words of St.
Paul in his Letters as he blessed the Christian communities and also to what
non-English-speaking Catholics throughout the world have always been praying.
(Information in this post was compiled by Fr. Pat, Jonathan, and Suzanne.)
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