Just a drop is enough. Too much and it ceases to be what it is and becomes something else, not enough and nothing changes at all. This is true whether we are having a cup of tea/coffee or a drop of something stronger.

It is especially true in the Mass. Have you ever noticed how the priest, when preparing the gifts of bread and wine, puts a small drop of water into the Chalice with the wine? He may even use a small spoon called a ‘Scruple Spoon’, in order to ensure that only a small amount is added. Well, this drop of water has a great ‘depth’ of meaning.

The practice of putting water into wine to soften the wine began a long time ago. But for the purpose of the Mass, it was only a small amount. If the amount was too much it was determined that it was no longer wine and therefore was not suitable for celebrating the Eucharist.

Over time this reason, softening the wine, was lost to memory and the drop of water took on a much deeper significance. Firstly, it represents the Incarnation. The drop of water represents our humanity being subsumed into the Divinity of Christ, represented by the wine. It denotes the unifying of our humanity with Christ’s divinity and we are united with HIM: “We see that the people are signified by the water, but Christ’s blood by the wine. Therefore, when water is mixed with the wine in the chalice, the people is made one with Christ.” (Pope Julius III).   This fact is borne out by the prayer that the priest says, often quietly, as he puts the water into the wine: “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled Himself to share in our humanity”.

Furthermore, this drop of water symbolises the Crucifixion, reflecting the moment that Christ is pierced with the lance as HE hung on the cross and blood and water flowed from the side of Christ (see Jn. 19:34).

This commingling of water and wine, this drop added to the cup of wine, causes us to reflect on the fact that Christ became man so that we may have a share in the divine nature: “you may come to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) Or, as St Athanasius put it: “The Son of God became man so that man might become God [by grace]” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 460). So, just a drop is enough to allow us to share in the Divine Nature of GOD.