The Lord be with you: And with . . . What?

Intermountain Catholic

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Timothy Johnson

On April 30, the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced in a press release that the recognitio (approval) for the third edition of the Roman Missal has been granted by the Vatican.

For many in the English-speaking world, this is good news. The recognitio does not grant permission for parishes throughout the United States to start using the texts immediately.

The next step is continuing catechesis on the changes. In the meantime, the USCCB will announce a date of implementation. Stay tuned to see what learning opportunities the diocese will host, and for the date of implementation.

In this article we begin a long stretch of examining the parts of the liturgy. Today we begin with the greeting, which is part of the introductory rites.

We are all familiar with the opening dialogue of the Eucharist. The priest says, "The Lord be with you" and most of us in our sleep could respond, "And also with you."

Well, this greeting is slightly changed in the revisions of the Missal. The new translation, which uses the principles we discussed last time, is:

P: The Lord be with you.

A: And with your spirit.

You will notice that the liturgy does not begin with common language such as "Good morning" or "How are you this day?" Instead, the liturgy uses a formal liturgical greeting, which announces that the Lord is here in this place. It is ritual dialogue that indicates that what we do here is different than our day-to-day activity. It affirms that we have gathered in the name of Christ to offer praise and thanksgiving as his body. Other added greetings can distract us from the focus of our gathering, Jesus Christ. Paragraph 50 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states:

Then [the priest] signifies the presence of the Lord to the community gathered there by means of the Greeting. By this Greeting and the people's response, the mystery of the Church gathered together is made manifest.

This liturgical greeting has roots in both the Old and New Testaments. Paul uses a similar greeting to conclude his letters (e.g. Galatians and Philippians). According to Paul Turner, this Pauline greeting "is a way of praying that the Lord will be your companion, the joy of your heart, and the light of your life."

This new translation not only regains Scriptural images, but it also unites English speakers to most other language groups that already use this translation (e.g. Spanish). As we prepare for this change, let us ponder how Christ is present in our gathering.

In the next article we will discuss the Penitential Act and Gloria.