20 December 2022
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
O Key of David and Scepter of the house of Israel, Who opens and no man shuts, Who shuts and no man opens, come and bring forth from his prison house the captive that sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.
The invocation from today’s O Antiphon recalls the power of God as the source of right order. The release, the redemption of Christ and this redemption which continually preached by his church, reminds everyone that certain choices, habits, and states of mind can place us in darkness and the shadow of death. We know that things are mess, and we realize that it will take both our efforts and God’s grace to move us forward. The image of darkness of course is fitting for this day because it is the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. We really don’t know when Jesus was born. With the reference to sheep feeding in the fields that would seem to put the birth of Christ in the spring. The point is not so much the exact day, but rather the coming of Christ symbolizes the increase of spiritual light which has its compliment in the increase of light after December 21.