Faith

Throughout the Mass, including the blessing at the conclusion of Mass, the principal celebrant is carrying out his priestly responsibility as a mediator between God and those assembled.

Father Robert M.
O'Grady

We have all read bulletin reminders or heard verbal warnings from the sanctuary about leaving Mass early. Usually this is addressed to those who leave after receiving Holy Communion. There is an easy way to know when the Mass has ended.
Here's what the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (Cf. # 90) says:
"To the Concluding Rites belong the following:
a) brief announcements, should they be necessary;
b) the priest's greeting and blessing, which on certain days and occasions is expanded and expressed by the Prayer over the People or another more solemn formula;
c) the dismissal of the people by the deacon or the priest, so that each may go back to doing good works, praising and blessing God;
d) the kissing of the altar by the priest and the deacon, followed by a profound bow to the altar by the priest, the deacon, and the other ministers."
Are you surprised? No mention of music of any kind! No mention of "waiting until ministers" arrive at the back of the church or return to the sacristy. No mention of any additional prayers. Nothing. Simply "Go!"

Announcements, if they are given, are made at this place in the Mass, not after the homily or after the Universal Prayer. They are to be brief and should not be a repetition of the parish bulletin. Many parishes have greeters at the doors of the church to welcome those arriving before Mass starts and then to hand bulletins to those leaving the Mass after the dismissal. This helps get the bulletin into the home. It rescues the parish staff from having to pick them up from pews if they are available at the beginning of the Mass and read at Mass -- often during the homily.
All the way back to Moses and Aaron, we hear God blessing his people. He does this through his chosen vessels. He mediates the divine blessing through human beings. A very familiar one comes from the Book of Numbers 6:24-26. It is the first option for Solemn Blessings for Sundays in Ordinary Time in the present Roman Missal.
"May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May he let his face shine upon you and show you his mercy.
May he turn his countenance towards you and give you his peace."
God continues to bless his people in many ways. This final blessing is one of them.
Blessings simple and solemn and prayers over the people.
The bishop or priest imparts a blessing. It may be a very simple one or a more solemn one. If a solemn blessing is imparted, then it is preceded by a direction to "bow your heads for the blessing" by a deacon or priest. There are then petitions of the blessing. We respond to each of these petitions, either one of them, or more frequently three, with "Amen."
There are also "Prayers over the People." They are required on the Sundays of Lent and are optional for the weekdays of Lent. A different prayer is provided for each Lenten Sunday and weekday.
The bishop or priest, while tracing the sign of the cross (once if by a priest at mention of the Son, three times if by a bishop at the name of each person of the Trinity) over the assembly, uses one of two forms of the blessing.
"May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
Or with the solemn blessing "May the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit come down on you and remain with you forever."
The blessing, as we see by the prescribed words, is imparted by the bishop or priest to the rest of the assembly.
Since words in the liturgy cannot be changed on the whim of the bishop or priest, then the change from second person plural "you" to first person plural "us" is a mistake. And not just a change in grammar. The celebrant cannot bless himself, any more than he may go to confession and absolve himself, or anoint himself.
None other than St. John Vianney in one of his catecheses to the people of Ars reminded them that "The priest is not for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the sacraments to himself. He is not for himself; he is for you."
Throughout the Mass, including the blessing at the conclusion of Mass, the principal celebrant is carrying out his priestly responsibility as a mediator between God and those assembled. This is another example of why we say the priest acts "in the person of Christ, the head of the Church."

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