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.
O-Antiphon of 20 December
In art history, I have always been particularly fascinated by paintings depicting the Birth of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi. Artists in different centuries have depicted the mystery of God’s incarnation in very different ways.
Often one can also discover a cross hanging above the manger in the stable. At first glance, the connection between the birth and death of Christ seems strange. But is this not the perfect expression of God’s salvific creation?
God is born as a child in a stable. Jesus, the Saviour, grows up and proclaims the Gospel and brings about the Kingdom of God. And through his dying on the cross, the way to eternity with God is opened to us all.
The Son is the key that breaks the dungeon of death.
Let us abandon ourselves to the key of David, who wants to open everything in us that is locked. Let us be led out of the prison of darkness into his light. Veni! Maranatha!
Sr. Astrid
Photo: Provincial Archive Limburg
