"AND WITH YOUR SPIRIT"

In the market, the veggie vendors normally remove the exterior of some of their repolyo (cabbage) and pechay so its fresh interior parts would remain at di na mahawa pa sa kabulukan (and others will not become rotten, too). Or at times, they would chop their veggies and remove rotten parts and sell as pakbet rekados (ingredients for mixed veggie dish) para di mabulok agad and bilhin pa ng mga tao (so they will not rot fast and people will still buy them....

Last night, I attended a talk about the New Roman Missal. The priest explained well the meaning of the new response, "And with Your Spirit." He said that it connotes God's Presence.

The essence of "The Lord is with you" is its being a greeting and a blessing in itself. Its biblical:
Ruth 2:4
1 Chronicles 22:11
Luke 1:28
2 Timothy 4:22
Galatians 6:18
Philippians 4:23
Philemon 4:25

He said, for St. Paul, spirit is that part in us that is under the rule of God that brings us closer to Him, the part that is good, noble and pure in us (Galatians 5) na makakasalo sa blessings ni God sa Misa (which catches the blessings of God in the Mass). This new response connotes the Presence of God in us. It's an invitation to our interior because the foundation of fruitful participation in the Mass is interior participation.... Kaya dapat nating ingatan our interior self para di mabulok agad (So we have to take care of our interior self so it will not get rotten fast) like the veggies in the market...The spirit in us makes us interiorly fresh.

At the end of the talk, the priest said, the word "with" in the new response is what we really should focus on because its essence connotes "God's Presence" or "being with God" and the moment we become aware that God is truly with us, we will not do anything to rotten our spirit. And like a clean plate, he said, we will be ready to receive Jesus....

Have a Pleasant Day!

-luisadelacruz 

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