Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 20th December 2022

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;

qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit:

veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,

sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

 

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open:

Come, and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

 

​Today’s O Antiphon proclaims Jesus to be the Key of David and the Sceptre of the House of Israel, recognising him to be the Messiah King, who alone can open the door to the kingdom of heaven and free us from the darkness of sin and death. It is based on two important texts, one from the Old, the other from the New Testament. In the prophet Isaiah we read, “I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut and no one shall open.” (Is 22: 22) Then in the Book of the Apocalypse we find, “These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens” (Rev 3: 7) Jesus, then is the key that allows us to gain access to the kingdom of his Father. We implore him to come quickly to save those who are still in their sins, those who most need the key of the kingdom to open the door for them, that the promise of Advent be fulfilled.

 

​Our Gospel passage today is that of the Annunciation from Luke, (Lk 1: 26-38), a passage so well-known and loved, we could all recite it by heart. I shall simply reproduce it, but today without comment, that it be allowed to speak for itself.

“The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.”