Is there an appropriate response to "Jesus Loves You"?

Question

For Catholics we've got a lot of cool call and response stuff built into our liturgies that can easily translate to everyday life. So if someone in a truck shouts at me "Dominus Vobiscum", I know to say "Et cum spiritu tuo”.

I was wandering around down in the southern US a few day ago and someone in a truck yelled at me "Jesus Loves You". I thought that was wonderful and it really cheered me up. I waved and said "thanks".

Is there a cool thing that Protestants say (like "ping" - "pong" on IRC or that cool sign Harley guys do)? I know Bill Cosby thought it was cool that Protestants say "Amen", but I don't think that's an "Amen" moment. I want to say "Thanks for remembering me, Jesus loves you too!", I don't want to say "I know, ain't I cool".

Also, and this may be pertinent information to the question at hand, I really did look like a hobo at the time. I was walking from a Motel 6 to a Wafflehouse wearing 3 shirts, a jacket, a scraggly beard a stocking cap and carrying a mug and I'd just been camping for the weekend, the fact that I left my sleeping bag and over-stuffed backpack in the hotel room didn't seem to improve my appearance.

Just curious - has anyone ever shouted "Dominus Vobiscum" at you from a truck? — DJClayworth, Nov 27, 2019 at 17:32

Lesley · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-27 17:22:11Z

9

I guess if I was in Italy and someone said "Jesus loves you" in Latin, I might reply "et tu frater" or "et tu sorror". Don't know if I could get away with "Jesus te amo" or if that would give out the wrong signal, though.

In English, I would probably respond with "You too, brother" or "You too, sister". Or perhaps "Such love! Amazing love!" accompanied by a great big smile and a cheery wave.

answered Nov 27, 2019 at 17:22

Lesley

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5

Jesus te amo means "Jesus I love you" in Spanish. In Latin it's a mess: Jesus is nominative, but amo is first person. I think it probably means that you're claiming both to be Jesus and to love the hearer. TL;DR you want amat, not amo.
– Peter Taylor
Nov 28, 2019 at 8:19
1

Good to know. Not much call for Spanish or Latin where I live, but could come in handy should I manage a return visit to north Italy.
– Lesley
Nov 28, 2019 at 9:12
3

The Latin should be, I think, "Te quoque, frater" (or soror). "Tu" means the one called is doing something - like in et tu, Brute?. So you'd be claiming that the truck driver also loves you. And, unless the caller really used Latin (and so will understand the answer)... I am sorry, but in Italian and your (relative) is a common reply to an insult. Best to fully specify - Te quoque Iesu amat, frater/soror (Gesù ama anche te, fratello/sorella). (Forgive me if I sound pedantic, English is not my mother language - as you probably suspected, I am Italian).
– LSerni
Nov 28, 2019 at 10:05
2

@LSerni Appreciate the information, and you're right to say it's unlikely that Latin would be spoken. But Italian is such a beautiful language!
– Lesley
Nov 28, 2019 at 12:51
2

Apart from a few famous sentences (e.g. "Abemus papam") we don't speak Latin in Italy, let alone shout it at strangers...
– algiogia
Nov 28, 2019 at 15:25

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Nigel J · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-27 18:34:50Z

9

'God bless you' is the most common courteous response I can think of. Or more simply :

Bless you.

Wikipedia comments on both varieties as does the Cambridge Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary (IV/9/b).

It is in scripture (Numbers 6:24) :

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee [KJV]

Jesus commands to say it even to enemies (Matthew 5:44) :

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you [KJV]

edited Nov 27, 2019 at 18:34

answered Nov 27, 2019 at 18:19

Nigel J

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Add a comment |

Russell McMahon · Accepted Answer · 2019-11-29 08:23:57Z

This calls for a rapid, pithy, meaningful, unambiguous (choose any four) response as the truck begins to recede into the distance :-)!

I suggest a loud immediate

"Hallelujah!"

Arm raised in air / "fist pump" A smile helps.

The following are somewhat related.
They need to be 'meaningful' and not just ritual formula to be useful:

To the more mundane and usual "have a good evening / afternoon / rest of your day" from cashiers and similar I usually respond ~= "And you too" (or similar - loudly enough to (hoepfully) be recognised.
That's would not be overly meaningful in either challenge or response, except, that most people do NOT respond to this standard salutation at all, so any response at all is more likely to be noticed.

When leaving any brief casual encounter with a stranger / friend I hadn't met I try to say "God bless you". This very seldom meets with overt negative response, moderately often meets with no response but often enough to be worthwhile results in a positive reaction.

I'm an older than young 'white' guy. A degree of discernment is accordingly needed, but, I try to smile at strangers who I walk past.
A gratifying amount of the time this results in a returned smile - often with a quite surprised initial look, followed by a response of (what usually seems to be) pleasure - probably that someone actually took the time and effort to flash a visual 'hello" in our usually ships-in-the-night public world.

Casual interaction with strangers can be a lot of fun. This can be at a somewhat below Good Samaritan / Jedi Master level and still form a useful part of the fabric of and-your-neighbour-as-yourself. One can be useful along the way. The old grey guy has a fair bit of fun in the process.