When the priest greets the people at the beginning of Mass with these words, he is using the last words of St. Paul’s second letter to the Church of Corinth. Since St. Paul refers to God the Father, simply as “God,” this blessing is clearly Trinitarian. It expresses the Church’s belief in one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Americans meeting each other on the street will typically begin their encounter with a friendly “hello,” a word probably derived from a German word used to hail a ferryman. But, in other language groups, different greetings are used. Italians greet each other cheerfully with “ciao.” Both Jews and Arabs greet one another with “peace.” Albanians say “long life.”