Ave Maria at the presentation of the gifts
Just the other day I was listening to a priest discussing that very central part of our faith, the two natures of Christ, being both fully God and fully man.
In the course of his talk he reminded us that it was Mary who gave her son Jesus his humanity. That was her gift as it was the Holy Spirit in the conception of Christ that provided his divinity, so to speak.
This set me upon meditation on the Incarnation once more, a habit and practice that I have found very useful in understanding and deepening my Catholic faith. There is such wonder in that mystery, there is such depth of beauty and symmetry, there is such awe inspiring power in it yet such humility inspiring love. I shall never cease to meditate upon the Incarnation because I know I will never plomb its depths.
What did strike me the other day however, was a thought of how appropriate it would be, in the light of what the priest mentioned, to sing some form of Ave Maria during the collection and most definitely during the presentation of the gifts. Mary’s fiat was her giving of herself to God. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Thus, as she gave herself to the Holy Spirit to become the mother, the giver of her own flesh and blood to her son Jesus Christ, so too, as we give the gifts of bread and wine that the Holy Spirit will cause to become the body and blood of Christ on the altar, we are joining with her in our own small way, and following her supreme example. Would that we would also join her in our hearts, in giving ourselves over completely to Christ.