20th December - O Key of David
O Key of David and sceptre of Israel, what you open no one else can close again, what you close no one can open. O come and lead the captive from prison, free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
In this antiphon the coming Messiah is given the title of Key of David. A key is used to open and close, to lock and unlock. How are we to use this key? The answer is found in this morning’s Gospel of the Annunciation.
As I have been sitting with this Gospel what stands out for me are all the emotions: the joy, fear and uncertainty, but above all, the excitement of the Angel Gabriel. ‘Rejoice so highly favoured, the Lord is with you. Mary, do not be afraid, you have won God’s favour, LISTEN” ……… I’m nearly able to visualize his excitement with his message, but he has to experience his own advent - He has to wait for Mary’s answer.
With all that is going on in the world today regarding scandals, wars, famine murders etc. it is very easy to become discouraged. It is difficult to rejoice. The following quotation helped me: “Imprisoned by sin, we need the Key of David to open our prison gates. Mary ‘highly favoured’ gives us that key. ‘The maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son’ - we look to the Virgin Mother and her Divine Son for the hope of our salvation, knowing that nothing is impossible to God.” This is my prayer.
In blind faith, I have to believe that God is with his suffering people. This is what Mary’s Fiat is. In her love and obedience to God, she accepted what God asked of her so that the Word could take on a human nature to come and be with us in all our trials and sufferings, so as He can become our strength.
I know in my own experience in religious life, there is a great freedom in my vow of obedience. Sometimes it comes easily, but sometimes pride comes in and I think I know better, then peace is gone. St Irenaeus reminds us that “the knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience; what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief; Mary loosened with her faith.” My prayer is that Mary will give us that key to unlock all the parts of our being that are imprisoned so that we can be free to believe and rejoice in the message of the Angel and accept her Son who has come that we “may have life and have it to the full.”
O Key of David and sceptre of Israel, what you open no one else can close again, what you close no one can open. O come and lead the captive from prison, free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
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