and with your spirit: 28th week tuesday 2012 II

Last week we talked about the sign of the cross symbolizing the two great tenets of the Christian religion namely the Holy Trinity, and secondly the Redemption brought about by the death of Jesus on a cross.  We also reflected on the meaning of the greeting “the Lord be with you,” and why good morning or good evening used as a greeting in the liturgy may sound bland and I should say, out of place inside the mass; and why the greeting the Lord be with you is such a profound and beautiful greeting. 

Today we reflect on the meaning of our response to the greeting the Lord be with you.  Your response is, “and with your spirit.”  It is a direct and literal translation of the Latin response et cum spiritu tuo. At present when the priest says the Lord be with, we all respond “and also with you.”  In December, we will start using, “and with your spirit.”  This is our lex orandi, this is the rule of prayer which we should follow, at least in English.  Why so?  Why is it the lex orandi?  Because of the lex credendi, because of its underpinnings in the rule of faith.  What is the rule of faith? 

We translated this text literally to avoid the confusion that when the priest greets us “the Lord be with you,” we respond “and also with you,” as if to say, “same with you, Father.”  That is the danger of just merely saying “and also with you.”  It’s like saying “Merry Christmas” and you say, “same to you.”  No.  The response to the greeting has a deeper meaning.  When we say “and also with you,” or when we say in the new translation “and with your spirit,” we are affirming an important article of faith that we sometimes forget - that the priest celebrating the Eucharist, the priest celebrating the sacraments is celebrating it in persona Christi, in the person of Christ - not in the person of the priest but in the person of Christ.  And with your spirit is a recognition of the gift of the priesthood in the person of the priest - a recognition that Christ comes to the priest ina unique way everytime he celebrates the sacraments.  In the mass it is Jesus who celebrates, not the priest.  In baptism, it is Jesus who baptizes, not the priest.  In marriage it is Jesus who confirms the marriage, not the priest. 

That is why I really pity you, naluoy gid ako sa inyo.  Bal-an nyo ngaa?  Because every time you come to mass you have to make an act of faith - you have to make an act of faith to God saying - Lord I believe nga bisan law-ay ang pari, bisan indi nami ang pari nga maga-misa subong, bisan uribadon na ang pari, bisan gin-akigan ako sang pari, I believe Jesus that it is you who celebrates the mass - not the priest but you Jesus; it is you who is preaching the word to me - not the priest but you Jesus; it is you Jesus who gives me communion.  This is our lex vivendi - amo ini ang aton relasyon sa pari.  Budlay no?  Ngaa amo sini?

Around the year 250, the church had a problem.  Because of so many heresies besetting the church at that time, the question arose, what happens to those who were baptized by heretics?  Do they need to be re-baptized?  Bunyagan bala sila liwat?  Was their baptism valid?

Some bishops said no, they need to be re-baptized because the priests who baptized them were sinful, they were disobedient, they were heretics.  But the Pope, Pope St. Stephen said.  No.  Even if they were sinners, even if they were heretics, for as long as they did what the church intends them to do, their baptism is valid.  Ang grasya sang sakramento nagadepende kay Kristo kag indi sa pari.  The priest is not the cause of the grace of the sacrament by Christ.

Of course it is important that the priest should approximate Christ in the holiness of his life, in the way he lives - maayo gid tani kon maayo man ang pari.  That they are not like cups that are clean in the outside but full of filth in the inside.  Kuntani nami gid.  That remains a challenge for most of us priest.  But it does not happen all the time. You have to understand.

Lantawa bala kon ang misa nagadepende sa pagkabalaan sang pari.  Ano ang matabo?  Kon makasasala ang pari not valid - simba kamo liwat, kon holy ang pari valid - good.  Pero ang question:  Paano mo na mabal-an? 

This is the content of our faith, our lex credendi, the meaning of our response and with your spirit.  For when we say “and with your spirit” we are therefore affirming that there is in the priest a special grace, there is in his spirit a special gift nga bisan mag-inano pa sia, pari man sia sa gihapon, nga paagi sa iya ang tinapay kag bino mahimo nga lawas kag dugo ni Kristo, not because of his person, not because of his holiness or its absence, but because of Christ in him, because of the special grace which we recognized and affirm in the priest when we say “and with your spirit.”