The Key

My dog, Murphy, loves to be walked in the neighborhood, weather permitting. When we go walking, it is my usual routine to leave my keys in the house and exit through the automatic garage door. Recently I was in a panic when I returned after a walk with Murph and found that the garage door wouldn’t open because the batteries in the key pad had died! I thought “fortunately I have a hidden key”, but unfortunately the key was hidden inside the garage! When I think back on the experience I recall a feeling of helplessness. How was I going to get in the house! I wasn’t going to break a window or kick in a door! What could I do? I’m locked out of my own house! I eventually found an unlocked window that I was able to climb through to gain entry.

The image in the “O” antiphon for today is that of a key. In the “O” antiphons, the church offers us several images during these last days of Advent to reflect on what it means for humanity that the Son of God became one of us. Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection is the key that “opens” us up to a relationship with God. The gospel today tells us how Mary opens herself completely to that relationship by her response of “be it done to me according to your word.”

I want slow down or pause over the next couple of days and reflect on how I am open to my relationship with God. How is Jesus my key to the eternal kingdom of God? Why do I choose the darkness of sin rather than the light that Christ offers? What are some resolutions I can make to better to prepare myself to celebrate the birth of the one who truly sets us free, the one who unlocks our hearts to eternal life?

Author: Pat Naughton, Director of Curriculum