And also with… your spirit!

Well, it is official: the English-speaking Catholic world has shifted to the use of the new (and might I add, more accurate) translation of the Roman Missal. I had the chance to “break in” the new text as part of a visit I made to Holy Name of Jesus parish this weekend. This is the very first parish I was assigned to when I was first ordained a priest, almost 10 years ago. It was nice to be “back home”, seeing familiar faces.

The launch of the new Missal went very smoothly, I must say. I could tell that the people were well prepared. Still, I can tell it will take time. We are so very used to giving automatic answers to certain prompts and prayers that a few times we tripped up (and even myself!) I tried to prepare people each time something new was coming, encouraging them to look at their mass cards or just warning them when something was coming up. At the very beginning of mass, for example, I led the people in the sign of the cross (“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”), but then paused before the greeting and said “Now comes the tricky part!” I reminded them of the new response, which has changed from “And also with you” to “And with your spirit”. And still, when I did finally say “Peace be with you” one of the ministers near me responded “And also with… your spirit!” Ah well, it will take time.

I personally really like the new translation. Some of the presidential prayers do involve very long sentences, something we are not used to in English, so I have found myself having to prepare well in advance — but that’s not a bad thing. The poetry of the prayers is definitely vastly improved, particularly in the Eucharistic prayers, and I certainly am all for that. As for the new response, “And with your spirit”, I love it. In fact, my whole homily was on the meaning of this passage. In essence, the people are asking God’s spirit to be with that of the priest, so that the ministry he accomplishes at the altar and in his preaching might not be just an outward show. It is a challenge to the minister to truly live up to his ministry. Perhaps we thought the traditional response was simply a way to return the greeting &dmash; a liturgical way to say “right back at ya!” — but in fact, if we had really wanted to translate it according to its meaning we would not have said “and also with you” but “and what about you?”

Can you imagine that? “The Lord be with you.” “And what about you?” What a challenge being tossed out to the priest! And yet, it is good for our humility and holiness. May the Lord truly be with our spirits, so that we as ministers might be worthy of our calling.