As it was for Moses, Joshua and Gideon, so it was for Mary. “The Lord is with you” indicated that God was asking the person to take on a significant task, and that God was promising that He would be with them, so that they could do what God was asking them to do.
So it is for the people whom God gathers for Mass. The priest greets them, “The Lord be with you.” In this opening greeting the people are given a mission and a promise, “You have found favor with God. God’s grace is in you. Be God’s people. Celebrate this Mass. The Lord is with you now and will be with you until the end of time.”
To the priest the people respond, “And with your spirit.” They are remembering, and they are reminding the priest, that he has been ordained a priest for them, to represent Christ and to do what he is about to do: to celebrate the Mass with them.
In this exchange of greetings – “The Lord be with you … And with your spirit” – the priest and the people recognize their relationship with each other, and they declare that they both have roles to play in the celebration of the Mass. In effect, they are saying, “You are God’s people …. And you are our priest.”
This is how it will sound if the dialogue is chanted: And with your spirit.
With Open Doors 
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