New Roman Missal: And With Your Spirit

Rejoining Catholics Worldwide in Saying "Spirit"

Yep, pretty official looking

"The Lord be with you."

"And with your spirit"

With the implementation of the New Roman Missal, the first change everyone will notice is the re-translation of the Latin "et cum spiritu tuo."  The previous translation, "And also with you" will be replaced with "And with your spirit," which aligns the English-speaking Catholics with Catholics across the globe.  In Italian, this phrase is translated "E con il tuo spirito," in French "Et avec votre esprit," in Spanish "Y con tu espíritu," and in German "Und mit deinem Geiste."

Scriptural Influences
The greeting between the priest and the assembly is not foreign to our faith, but an exchange the springs forth from Scripture.  Let's take a look:
"The Lord be with you." The priest's greeting to us is plucked almost word for word from the Gospel of Luke:

And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” -- Luke 1:28

Mary is hearing from the angel of God for the first time.  Another translation of the verse implores Mary to "rejoice" in hearing the greeting.  We too should rejoice when we gather and are greeted because we know that we enjoy God's favor as we gather to receive the Word of God in the Scripture and the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  And like Mary, we have a choice to work with God to bring about the Kingdom here on Earth.

"And with your spirit."  Again, we find a very strong link to Scripture:

The Lord be with your spirit.  Grace be with you. -- 2 Timothy 4:22

At the end of his letter to Timothy, Paul asks the Lord to be with Timothy's spirit.  When we reply to the priest, we are asking the same.  The entire greeting expresses a desire for God's presence to be with us as we enter into prayer together either at the beginning of mass, or at other new moments during mass.

More on "And with your Spirit" after the jump.


US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Explanation
"If you want the NFL, go to the NFL" is a slogan used by the NFL when they advertise for their apparel, hats, and yes, even Christmas ornaments.  Similarly, let's go to our local Bishops Conference (the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or USCCB) to learn what they think will be enhanced with this change.  The video below is linked directly to the part talking about "And with your spirit," a discussion which lasts for 3+ minutes.

They also have a FAQs just for this re-translation.  Two of those questions and answers are pasted below:

Why does the priest mean when he says “The Lord be with you”?By greeting the people with the words “The Lord be with you,” the priest expresses his desire that the dynamic activity of God’s spirit be given to the people of God, enabling them to do the work of transforming the world that God has entrusted to them. 

What do the people mean when they respond “and with your spirit”?The expression et cum spiritu tuo is only addressed to an ordained minister. Some scholars have suggested that spiritu refers to the gift of the spirit he received at ordination. In their response, the people assure the priest of the same divine assistance of God’s spirit and, more specifically, help for the priest to use the charismatic gifts given to him in ordination and in so doing to fulfill his prophetic function in the Church.

Main Point
With the change, we're not trying to be extra spiritual with a de-emphasis on the entirety of the person.  Instead, when we pray these words, we are asking for God to be with the priest in response to the priests request that God be with us.  Together we make up the community of believers and we need each other's prayers.