O Key of David - 20th December 2016

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.

This ‘O Antiphon’ that the Church sings this evening at the Magnificat, has its roots like all the other Antiphons in sacred scripture, in this case in Isaiah chapter 22 and in Luke chapter I.

Our Lord is addressed as Key of David – Jesus is Son of David through his foster father, St Joseph, who was of the house of David.  David was the most beloved and important King in Israel’s history – “a man after the Lord’s own heart” as it says in the Acts of the Apostles.  So Jesus in his human ancestry is truly one of us as he is truly Son of God in his divine nature “conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy spirit. (Mt Ch 1)

A key is an indispensable instrument for opening and closing a door, so it is a very appropriate symbol with which to address our awaited Saviour. The Babe of Bethlehem, whom we await, did not die because he was born but He was born in order to die – the Crib and the Cross are closely associated.  By His obedience in suffering His Passion, death and Resurrection, Jesus opened the gates of heaven for the whole human race which our first parents had closed by their disobedience.  There is a lovely Icon called ‘the harrowing of hell’ where Jesus on Holy Saturday is seen in His descent into hell and taking  both Adam and Eve by the hand raised them up to come with Him into His Father’s House and all their posterity after them.

After that liberation is there any prison, darkness or death from which Jesus cannot free us? Yet we need another key – the key of faith which we receive at our Baptism to help us lay hold of the blessings Jesus is offering.  We join Bartimaeus, the blind man, at the side of the road, who, when he heard that Jesus, the Nazarene, was passing by, cried out: ‘Jesus, Son of David have  pity on me (cf Lk Ch 18).  We do it, not only in our own name but in the name of all who are captive in any way, in darkness and the shadow of death.  May we too, hear Jesus’ response: “Receive your sight, your faith has saved you.”

O key of David - 20th December 2015

O key of David and sceptre of Israel, what you open no else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Jesus in his own body has opened the door to salvation. He is the door. He is the way into the Kingdom, into the very heart of the Trinity. “I am the door ; if anyone enters through Me , he will be saved.”

It would be difficult to reflect upon this antiphon this advent, without making a connection to the Jubilee Year and the significance of the Holy Door of Mercy being opened in every diocese in the world. Pope Francis in various homilies has this to say: “As Christians we are called to cross the threshold of the door of mercy. We are asked to welcome and experience God’s love which recreates, transforms and renews life. From this experience we must go out and be instruments of mercy. God is anxious to be merciful and to welcome everyone into the tender embrace of reconciliation and forgiveness. “

A major aspect of the Holy Year throughout history has been that of a pilgrimage to Rome to make reparation for sin and to renew the conversion of one’s life. As in today’s antiphon the prayer of the pilgrim, and each of us are pilgrims, could be ‘ O come to lead the captive from prison, free those who live in darkness and the shadow of death.’  Show us your mercy O lord, remember your Holy Covenant sealed in the blood of your Son on the Cross .

A very important symbolic act performed by each pilgrim has been to pass through the Holy Door.  Pope St. John Paul 11 said,  at the opening of the last jubilee that the “Holy Door evokes the passage from sin to grace which every Christian is called to accomplish.” He continues, “Jesus said   ‘I am the door’, in order to make it clear 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 life of communion with God. To Him alone can the words of the psalm be applied in full truth: “this is the door of the Lord where the just may enter”

So the symbolism of passing through the holy Door into the basilica or Church is to pass from this world into the presence of God. It is to freely decide to cross the threshold, leaving behind the kingdom of this world and all that holds us captive so as to enter into the new life of grace of the kingdom of God.

Our hearts are made for God. Within each one of us there is a sense of incompleteness and only God can make us whole.   Especially in our times, people do not realise that God is the answer to the extraordinary restlessness they feel. They are aware thar nothing satisfies them. The more they have the more they realise that this is not what they are looking for. Their hearts ache for they know not what. But we know, we know that our restless longings are genuine, our sense of incompleteness is real and that only God can satisfy our deepest longings. In this year of Mercy, this time of overflowing grace, let us get excited about bringing others to the fount that God may quench their thirst. Let us unite with Jesus longing ,his hope, his thirst, his welcome.  It was said of Dominic that his desire for the salvation of others was such that it kept him awake nights. The brethren could hear him in the quiet, crying out in anguish ‘Lord have mercy on your people , what will become of sinners’. Let us join him. Let us become so captivated by Jesus that we are willing to make a hole in the roof to bring those in need of forgiveness into Jesus presence. Let us be like Mary whose intercession in the upper room caused Jesus to come in, even through locked doors.

 God wishes to show mercy to the world. His servants are the answer. God wishes to show mercy through us, to free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.  ‘To love and forgive are the concrete visible signs that faith has transformed our hearts and they enable us to express in our selves the very life of God’( Pope Francis). It is in and through us that God now enters our world. We are the face of his mercy. Let us enter into the heart of Jesus that He might enter into the heart of our world.

 

O Antiphon – 20th December 2014

A reflection given by one of our sisters on today's Magnificat Antiphon, which invokes Christ as Key of David. (If you prefer to listen, click the 'play' button in the box below).


For an alternative audio player click here.

O Key of David.

O come now key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home,

make safe the way that leads on high and close the path to misery.

Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to you O Israel.

                                                                                                                Translation from the Breviary.

Reflecting on this fourth ‘O Antiphon’ in the light of the Gospel of today from St. Luke, Chapter one, our hearts  are drawn to concentrate on the Presence of God in our lives, Emmanuel – God is with us.  Earlier on in this first chapter, we are told –the angel Gabriel appeared to Zachary in the Temple and introduced himself in these words:   ‘my name is Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God’ – no wonder the angel Gabriel needed to re-assure Zachary ‘do not be afraid’!  When Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, appeared to Mary six months later, St. Luke emphasises into her presence the angel came. Bending low in reverence before her, the angel announced the news of the Incarnation  - Jesus our Saviour, the Key of David, was to be born of her. This most precious scene which St. Luke writes of has been exquisitely portrayed by our well loved brother, Blessed Fra Angelico, O.P. and is worthy of a life-long depth of prayerful contemplation - the angel Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, now bending low in the presence of Mary, as he brings her the news of the Incarnation.

As we pray in our O Antiphon – ‘O Key of David, come and close the path to misery’, or as another translation expresses it, ‘come and lead the captive free from prison, free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death’ – we reflect that a key both opens and closes a locked door – what is it that keeps our hearts and lives imprisoned and locked up – what door needs to be unlocked to free us to live peacefully and trustfully in the Presence of God in the midst of all the daily upsets that can occur, and all the noise and turmoil of today’s world?  Very often, it is FEAR in one of its many forms, that keeps our hearts and indeed, our whole being tightly locked up – it can be some form of insecurity and a lack of confidence in ourselves, some deep hurt from the past that we hold on to that imprisons us, or some deep inner pain from a past experience such as bullying by another, it can be envy or selfishness, or pride, the list is endless

In praying this Antiphon with total trust, we are calling on Christ, the Key of David, to help us become preoccupied with him and thus win the victory over whatever it is that imprisons us and keeps us tightly locked up, because as the Prophet told us long ago:– ‘the Virgin is with Child and he will be called Emmanuel – a name which means God is with us’!

‘O Key of David we thank you for the wonder of our being and the miracle of your presence in us  (cf.Ps.137), unlock the door that keeps us bound – make safe the way that leads on high and close the path to misery, open wide our heavenly home’  Amen.

O Key of David - 20th December

 

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 to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Today we address our awaited Messiah as ‘Key of David’ and our antiphon paints a graphic picture of Him as a leader who unlocks prisons and leads the captives to freedom.  Our first thoughts may turn to all those who are in prisons throughout our world; those who are slaves to addictions and violence; to those areas where there is war and unjust governments – the list is endless.

While keeping all these in mind I was drawn to reflect on the meaning of true freedom and what it means for each of us in our daily lives.  Freedom is a theme which is dear to human beings from the beginning and which we find woven into the pages of both Old and New Testaments. Israel was formed as a people when Moses led a group of nomadic slaves through the desert towards the promised land of freedom – a symbol of our Baptism where Jesus our true leader leads us from the darkness of sin to the liberty of the children of God as St Paul reminds us: “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 1:13–14).   

Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in search of liberation, always in search of inner balance and unity.  Unfortunately we seek it in the wrong places and our modern world would have us believe that it means being able to do what we want irrespective of the consequences for others.  We forget that Jesus has already freed us from sin and has set us on the road to true freedom.  As He tells us:

"If you make my word your home

you will indeed by my disciples;

you will come to know the truth

and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31)

Mary is the one par excellence who made His word her home and in this morning’s Gospel we see her freely placing her young life in the hands of her God to do with as He pleased not knowing that it would lead her to the foot of the Cross and beyond. What an example of faith and courage!  Jesus leads us too on a journey of faith which begins with our Baptism and continues until He calls us to Himself.  It is a journey leading us from the prison of our own selfishness to the freedom of loving as He loves – to the point of laying aside all personal preferences so as to bring life to others that they too may experience the freedom of love.  Faith awakens our freedom from within – because God does not force our wills – rather He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, waiting for our response.  He is always inviting us beyond our present horizons of selfishness and promising us a “land flowing with milk and honey” which is nothing less than Himself for He can only give Himself. We only become free when we do good because we love the good.

Jesus brings us to freedom through the forgiveness of sins in the sacrament of reconciliation – he unbinds us and lets us go free as when he raised Lazarus from the dead.  Yet He freely allowed himself to be bound in swaddling clothes in the manger and wrapped in the shroud in the tomb.  He is not God from afar but chose to be one of us so much so that our wounds are forever engraved on His hands and he invites us to ‘go and do likewise’ (cf Lk 10:37).

The road to true freedom is long and hard and is never complete till we meet our Saviour face to face but our faith assures us that Jesus walks with us and is Himself the key which unlocks the hidden wisdom of our God who is always at work in the great and small events of our lives leading us from the slavery of sin and selfishness to the true liberty of the sons of God. 

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 to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.