sense of the sacred: Dominus Vobiscum

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Dominus Vobiscum

I get upset whenever I hear a priest greet the people: "The Lord is with you!" I even heard some priests complain that "Dominus vobiscum" is so archaic a greeting that it no longer is relevant to our modern use. With the new translations returning to "and with your spirit", many liberals object that this response does not mean anything more than the formula we use today: "and also with you." I came across this very enlightening article which I think would make us appreciate the return to the more literal translation of "et cum spiritu tuo."

Check out this link: Psallite Sapienter: Dominus Vobiscum

2 comments:

AAAFebruary 14, 2010 at 6:26 PM
Muslims greet each other with "Assalamu alaikum"

Yet you do not hear them complain about being to archaic.

Scientists use Latin terms for identifying different species. Yet they are not complaining.

Is there a hatred for anything before Vatican 2?

Or is it the excuse of someone playing dumb?

"Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulog-tulugan."
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Father Jojo ZerrudoFebruary 14, 2010 at 7:20 PM
I agree with you. It is really unfortunate that there seems to be a widespread impression even amongst most clergy that anything before Vatican II is no longer relevant in our times. This is obviously a rupture from the long standing tradition of the Church. It is simply unfortunate that those among us who insist on some sense of continuity in tradition are easily branded as "hopeless romanticists."
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We ought to get back the dimension of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a festivity; it is not a meeting for the purpose of having a good time. It is of no importance that the parish priest has cudgeled his brains to come up with suggestive ideas or imaginative novelties. The liturgy is what makes the Thrice-Holy God present amongst us; it is the burning bush; it is the Alliance of God with man in Jesus Christ, who has died and risen again. The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. In other words, the essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church; all the rest diminishes it. Men experiment with it in lively fashion, and find themselves deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the chief actor in the liturgy is not the Living God but the priest or the liturgical director. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Chile, 1988)

Do we still need sacred space, sacred time, mediating symbols? Yes, we do need them, precisely so that, through the "image," through the sign, we learn to see the openness of heaven. We need them to give us the capacity to know the mystery of God in the pierced heart of the Crucified. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Spirit of the Liturgy )