Entrance, Opening Hymn, & Greeting

Let us pray

   Why do we sing? Looking back in our history and to the Jewish roots of our liturgy, we see that music and singing is an important part of our prayer together. Singing is one of the most fitting praises for God, since it involves the body and soul even more than speaking. (Singing is a lot more work than speaking!) When we sing, we use our whole beings to praise God. The General Instruction for the Roman Missal explains the importance of singing:

   “The Christian faithful who come together as one in expectation of the Lord’s coming are instructed by the Apostle Paul to sing together Psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles (cf. Col 3:16). Singing is the sign of the heart’s joy (cf. Acts 2:46). Thus St. Augustine says rightly, ‘Singing is for one who loves,’ and there is also the ancient proverb: ‘Whoever sings well prays twice over’” (GIRM, no. 39).

   Given these admonitions, “Great importance should therefore be attached to the use of singing in the celebration of the Mass” (GIRM, no. 40).

Far from Ordinary

   If the only thing the priest said was something like, “I’m glad to see you” or “Boy, it’s cold today,” he might give the impression that we are just entering into familiar chatter. We could miss that something sacred is about to happen. So, the universal greeting helps us prepare to enter more fully into the celebration of the Mass and helps us to realize this will be a sacred gathering with Almighty God present before us. If you think about the words, they are actually a prayer said by the priest asking that the grace, peace, love, etc., of God be with each person—now that’s a way to start a gathering of God’s people! The faithful then respond with their own part of the prayer, asking a similar grace for the priest by responding, “And with your spirit.”

   Why do we say, “And with your spirit?” Our English translation of the phrase is actually a direct word-for-word translation from the Latin prayers of the Mass: “Et cum spiritu tuo.” This phrase also clearly connects us to several places in the Bible. For example, we see the priest’s greeting, “The Lord be with you,” in Ruth 2:4; and we see the people’s response, “The Lord be with your spirit,” in 2 Timothy 4:22.

   The greeting at the start of Mass is a prayer that the Lord will be present with the people and a prayer back from the people acknowledging the spiritual gift God has given to the priest to help lead us in prayer. It is definitely a more formal greeting than we would use out and about. However, what we do at Church is definitely different than meeting each other at a ballgame or a restaurant. The priest may very well go on to give some words of welcome or make a comment on the weather, but those comments follow the opening dialogue: “The Lord be with you,” “And with your spirit.” Now, let’s pray together as God’s family!

Source: EucharisticRevival.org