20th December 2025 - O Key of David

It would be difficult to reflect on this antiphon as this Holy Year of Hope  draws to a close without making the connction to the Jubilee Year  and the significance of the Holy Door.

Jesus in his own body is the key that opens the door to salvation for the whole human race. As the sword pierced his side, blood and water poured out and thus the Church was formed. As his life blood washed away our sins, he received us into his own self, into his heart, remembering his mercy.  He is the key that unlocks the door opening a way into the Kingdom, into the very heart of the Trinity.

This is the wonderful exchange we celebrate at Christmas. ‘O wonderful exchange. The Creator of human nature took on a human body and was born of a Virgin. He became man without having a human Father and has bestowed on us his divine nature’

He creates the opening through which we pass from sin to grace. Jesus says “I am the door” to make it clear to us that no one can come to the Father except through him. He alone is the Saviour sent by the Father. He alone is the way, the only way that opens wide the entrance into a life of communion with God.

He unlocks the door making it possible for us to freely choose to cross the threshold, leaving behind all the sin that enthrals us and holds us captive so as to enter into the new life of grace in the kingdom of God. But the choice is ours.

          We pray Jesus each year to come to lead captives from prison and to free those who live in darkness and the shadow of death. We know our weakness. Jesus is the key that opens the door that no one can close but the choice to enter is one we have to make again and again. Each year we have to allow ourselves be captivated anew by Jesus. The shadow of death is always close and beckoning, disguised as so many needs and wants. We understand so well  John Dunnes poem depicting our struggle. ‘I except you enthral me, never shall be free’.

           We have been gifted with the realisation that God loves us, each and every one of us in the whole world.. That is what Christmas is all about. Jesus is love incarnate. God loved the world so much that he sent his  Son.... This is the word of hope which will bring peace to our troubled world.. By our way of life we tell the world that God alone can satisfy, that He alone is our peace. We  intercede for the salvation of all people so that they will  know the joy of beig loved and loving in return.We remind them that there is more than this life.

It is normal for us huaman beings to hope for good things, things that will bring us peace, make us happy and bring us fulfilment. But if our hope is for this world only we are doomed to be disappointed. Nothing that this world has to offer is ever going to fully satisfy us . That is one of life’s lessons.

If we reflect on this experience and ask ourselves what does the fact that every human being longs for good say about us, we will hopefully come to the realisation that into the very fabric of our being, there is engraved the desire for happiness.  It is what we are made for. And so we enter the realm of our creation. Who created us and why were we created. ? What kind of a creator programmes his creation to desire good, and only good? ( Even when we are misguided and desire something unwholesome and death dealing we humans desire it because we think it will be good for us. ) I think we must come to the conclusion that that creator sees goodness and happiness as our final end.  The Human person is someone God creates because of God’s goodness and love. God’s love is so great that it cannot contain itself, as it were. God created us so that we could experience His love. We are, then, born to participate in the life of God who is Love. If that is the case, it stands to reason that the only thing that can give us full and lasting happiness is God’s life, full union with God. Whether we realise it or not, while we are living on this earth, we are pilgrims, aliens from are true homeland, Heaven. God wants us to share in His Divine Life. We are made for the beatific vision, union with God and with others in the Kingdom of Heaven. As Christians we are privileged to know this.  Faith in Jesus opens the door to theological hope of which human hope is only a pale reflection. Theological hope is Easter Hope, a hope we have because Jesus the Son of God  was born on the first Christmas night. He lived, died and rose again so that those who believe in Him may not die but may have the Eternal life for which we were created.

Theological hope has only one object; salvation for oneself, for those dear to us and for the whole world. As Contemplative Nuns our task is to keep the reality of Heaven before the eyes of the world.