And with your spirit; Five times during the celebration
of the Mass, the people of God respond this way. Five times the beautiful and glorious bride
of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb responds: And
with your spirit.
This is not an ordinary response. It is not an exchange like an ordinary
greeting, such as “Good Morning.” The
liturgy contains a particular kind of greeting, a particular way that we
address each other. You are greeted by
the priest a number of times during the Mass, and once by the deacon at the
proclamation of the gospel, with the phrase The
Lord be with you. This is the
greeting of the bridegroom and the friend of the bridegroom given to the
bride. Only those who have been ordained
address you with The Lord be with you. Only those upon whom the bishop has laid
hands speak to you in this way. Your
response, and with your spirit, is
your prayer, for the priest or the deacon.
It is your word of encouragement that he would follow the advice of St.
Paul to Timothy, and fan into flame the spirit that is within him by the laying
on of hands. The beautiful and precious
response, and with your spirit is your
prayer and your word of encouragement for our ministry.
The simple response, and
with your spirit, signifies several things.
At the beginning of Mass, with the response, and with your spirit, you are asking the priest to gather you all
together as a community united in the Lord Jesus so that we may offer an
acceptable sacrifice. At the reading of
the Gospel, your response and with your
spirit, is your request that the deacon tell you the Good News. At the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer,
with your response, and with your spirit,
you implore the priest to take you with him to the Last Supper, to Calvary,
to the Tomb and to the Resurrection as he offers the sacrifice. At the sign of peace, your response, and with your spirit, encourages the
priest to enter into the joy of the Lord and the joy of his people. At the conclusion of the Mass, as you
respond, and with your spirit, you
invite me and you implore me to bless the flock of God that has been entrusted
to my unworthy care. You seek to be blessed
and to be sent forth so that you may walk in love as Christ loved us.
Presented at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
