REFLECTION:

Today's O Antiphon:

O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!

I continue this reflection by returning to the image of a woman in labor. As her due date approaches, everything is marked by waiting—waiting filled with anticipation, hope, and often anxiety about the child who is about to be born into the family. There is a deep sense that something life-changing is near, yet it cannot be rushed or controlled. In many ways, this is where we find ourselves in these final days of Advent. Like a woman in labor, we wait with longing, feeling the pressure and intensity grow as the moment draws closer.

As a woman comes close to her time of labor, she may begin to feel confined, almost imprisoned in her own home. She cannot go far or move freely. Her world becomes very small—often limited to her bed, the bathroom, and perhaps the dining room for meals. To be a prisoner of one’s home, or even a prisoner of one’s own body, is not easy. Yet within that confinement, something holy is unfolding. At the same time, the child within her could also be seen as a kind of prisoner—waiting patiently for the right moment, waiting for the “key” that will open the womb and set the child free from the darkness of the womb into the light of the world. And yet, that same womb—what might seem like a prison—is also a garden, the sacred place where new life is formed and prepared to be revealed.

This image helps us understand the cry of the Church in the O Antiphon, O Key of David. Jesus is called the Key of David because He is the New Adam, the One who opens the way back to what was once lost. When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, humanity found itself locked out of that original gift of communion with God. The door was closed, and we could not unlock it ourselves. In Christ, that door is opened again. He comes with the authority of the Key, not only to free us from our prisons, but to lead us back into the Garden—to restored relationship, to life, and to light.

Jesus Himself was born at night, a sign of the darkness of the world into which He entered. Yet He does not avoid the darkness—He enters it and transforms it from within. His birth begins the great unlocking of salvation, a path that leads from the manger to the Cross, and through the Cross to the Kingdom of Light. What began with exile from a garden finds its answer in a Child born from a womb-garden, opening the way to new creation.

As we stand on the threshold of Christmas, this antiphon invites us to look honestly at our own lives. Where do we feel confined or imprisoned right now? Where do we need the Key of David to act? Advent reminds us that waiting is not wasted time. The door that was once closed is already being opened, and new life is ready to emerge.