The comedian John Mulaney has a bit where he talks about going to Mass on Christmas Eve with his parents and says he was "batting like 400" with his responses even though he had stopped going to church.
But when it came to the Sign of Peace, all bets were off. He said he was "like the one pre-Y2K [ahem, person] going 'and also with you'" while the rest of the congregation said "and with your Spirit."
"They changed [the wording] because that's what needed revamping in the Catholic Church," he riffs. "That was the squeaky wheel that needed the grease."
I thought about that at Christmas Eve Mass this year, where there was also a discrepancy at the Sign of Peace — not with the words so much (although you can still hear some saying the old refrain) — but in the confusion of how to greet people.
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